Ich gone? How can I tell..

[kellog]

Hello, I just had a super tough bout of Ich, it killed all my fish but the bristlenose pleco and my peacock eel. It resisted salt/heat and 3 medications. I think the only reason it cleared out was because ..well, there were no more fish to infect . I was doing daily 30% water changes with the last one on each medication treatment being around 80%. However, I think my eel might still have it in his gills possibly as he's spends all day doing what I've come to call the "itchy shimmy" where he uses the corner of the tank with the submersable heater,fern, and airhose to rub against all day long, Is there a way to tell if he still has it in his gills because I can't see any spots on him but he's literally rubbing his skin off in places doing this.

 

[Lupin]

What meds did you use? How long did you use each meds especially the salt?

 

[kellog]

the salt/high temp i had to quit after 3 days as it was causing my poor eel sever distress, found him laying across a fern not moving and panting even though i had 2 airstones goings and made sure the filter discharge was splashing to make extra bubbles. I used Tetra Ick guard tablets for a week, and i used Meracide? for a week also. Did 30% water changes and a vacuum before each new dose as directed. I'm on the second round of Proform-c now, finally don't see any spots on my eel unless theyre in his gills somewhere.The salt i only used 1 teaspoon/gallon for first day to see if it caused problems, the second day i added an extra 1 per gallon, guess thats what knocked my eel for a loop

 

[kellog]

forgot to add i also removed carbon from the filter as directed.

 

[Lupin]

Did you dissolve the salt? If not, I can see why it was distressed. Salt should be thoroughly dissolved. The salt grains can irritate most bottom dwellers.

3 days is not enough. It does not technically tells me ich is resistant to salt. The period itself is the problem. It's very inadequate.

You're switching the meds too fast! I would have advised you to keep up with the salt as long as it is dissolved. If after two weeks of salt treatment did not help at all, then your next step is focus on one med consistently. A lot of formalin and malachite green based meds are very harsh to scaleless fish. Meds are last resorts. It's for this reason I always advise salt as the first option before you try anything else which are harsher than salt.

 

[kellog]

Yes,I dissolved the salt in water before adding it