How to deal with ICH? without harming plants

[Nero1]

I got myself a Pbass about a week ago. I was warned that the fish is prone to ich so i put my temp up to 84 but it didnt do the trick. I have a few questions about the temp/salt treatment. If there is a post that already has all my answers please direct me to it.

1) My Pbass shares the tank with a Silver Arowana and an AT Dat will 86 F be ok for them. I figure it should not be a problem for the Silver but I am not sure about the Dat.

2) Will the 86F temp hurt my plants. I mostly Java Fern, JAva Moss, Anubius of some kind. Will the salt damage my plants?

3) " Sea Salt" for the table, will this work?

4) Are Pbass always prone to Ich or do they get more resilient as they get older/larger?

5) I already preform 50% water changes every week. What should I step up to now?

6)) Overall can this treatment harm my other fish or plants?

Thank you for your help

 

[greenearthlawns]

im not a pbass person but maybe can give you a little advice or more like my 2 cent. the 86 wont harm your fish or plants when done for a really short period of time. make sure that you don't keep the temp that high for more than a week at a time. keeping the temp high makes the ich mature faster. when the ich matures it falls off the fishs body like spores. now it is freeswimming in the tank to get on all your stuff. this is where the salt can do its damage but salt can also be bad for a lot of plants especially in high doses. but the high temp for about a week with the salt should kill the ich. Your water change regime seems on point so wouldn't worry too much about that. you could even tone it down a bit provided you have extra filtration. and yes the fish get tougher when larger. also the fish just went through the stress of being moved. and any salt will do pretty much. not sure the amount so you have to check on that.

One bit of good advice i can give you is this.... If you have a lot of money and nice fish invested in your hobby, get a UV sterilizer. Cost about $150 (new) for a 9watt unit and a water pump to push water through it. this will kill all free floating parasites, bacteria, algea, and pretty much any particles free floating in your tank. The best investment i ever made... since i got one, haven't had a disease, algea bloom or anything like that since. also, this unit can moved between several tanks. it only has to be on for a week to give it time to kill everything.... then move to the next tank and just rotate it around. also, dont believe the hype about these things. others might say oh and it kills your good biological bacteria too. trust me when i say that most of your good biological bacteria is not free floating in your water... it is colonizing in your filter, biomedia, substrate, and decorations. this product is Insurance for your fish!!