Ich in barebottom tanks?

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Druu

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 16, 2007
4,135
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Notre Dame, IN
Picked up a couple of FH fry the other day. They were in separate tanks and now it looks like the smaller one had ich, which it transmitted to the larger one. Is treatment any different in barebottom tanks? I figure the ich may have more trouble getting the entire lifecycle going if there's nothing for it to be burried in?

I've bumped temp to 82 from 79. How much higher should I go- 85, 86? I don't have aquarium salt at the moment- only iodized table salt which I'm fairly certain I've read should not be used. Can I treat with only the heat increase or should I look for some aquarium salt?
 
I wouldn't treat a bare-bottom tank differently. You can treat it with just raised temperature. I have always used salt and higher temp. I usually do 4 tablespoons for every 5 gallons of water and raise the temp. to 84. If I were to use just temp., I'd probably raise it to 86 or so. Here is a good article:

http://cichlid-forum.com/articles/ich.php
 
No different in bare bottom tanks.

The tank should be kept at 87'-88'F and salted at at least 1tblspn per 5gal.
Raise the temp slowly (degree or so each hour) and add the aquarium salt slowly (mixed with tank water) over the course of several hours to a day

Do daily vacuums to remove any Ich cysts from the bottom.
When replacing water, only replace the salt according to how much water you are putting BACK into the tank.

Keep the heat and salt up for 2 weeks PAST the last sign of ICH.

It is critical that heat exceeds 86 degrees. At 86 degrees or less, it will only serve to speed up the Ich life cycle, making things worse. Increasing the heat will cause a sudden "explosion" of Ich cysts on your fish. This is expected. These are Ich parasites that are already embedded in your fish. They cannot be killed once they reach this stage. It is only when they fall off on to the bottom that the heat/salt treatment (or medications) can become effective by preventing that single cyst from dividing into hundreds more, and by killing free swimming Ich looking for a host to land on.

Increase you aeration as higher temps will decrease oxygen in your water.

If you can not get the temp past 86 the only med I would use is Kordon Ich attack. It does work and will NOT kill you BB.

Table salt is not recommended. You can do the only heat but it will need to be past 86. If you can combine heat/salt the two will work faster
 
Thanks for the quick response. Do you use table salt or aquarium salt? I read the link which says that the iodine content of table salt is too small to cause an adverse effect, but I'm still wary because the general consensus seems to be otherwise. I will bump the tank to 84 when I get home in an hour and up it to 86 before I go to bed. Thanks a lot.
 
Iodized table salt is no different from aquarium salt. Use it, Druu. The protozoans don't bury themselves. The cyst they form is simply stuck on any surface and each cyst contains about a thousand more protozoans in it. Expect in the middle of treatment course the situation to worsen but it is typical so no reason to freak out at this point. Keep treatment steady for 14 days and ich should be completely eliminated.
 
Table salt can be used but is not the best salt to use, the anti-cacking agent is not the best thing to put in your tank as why I said table salt is not recommenced. Some have huge amounts of the stuff. Go to your local grocery store and buy some canning salt or kosher salt, its much better. Or wait till can go to your LFS or walmart and buy some aquarium salt.
 
I'm unable to go pick up salt in the near future. I've got the temp to 86 and the fish seem to be enjoying it. Outbreak has not gotten worse, still three small specks on the caudal of the large one, but the small one is flicking itself against the side and bottom of the tank. It's a 38g tank, how much table salt would be used if I go that route?
 
Thanks, my heater maxes at 89 so I should be able to go 88. No adverse effect on the fish right? Residents are two FH fry, 6 feeder platys, and a bluntnose minnow. I'm more concerned about the FHs- the feeders are expendable.
 
Only thing it will do is make them eat more as higher heat will increase their metabolism. My old FH did get a little more aggressive with higher temps.
Just make sure you increase the aeration in your tank when doing higher heat. 87-88 works fine and have never lost a fish.
 
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