Ich

[Sidney73]

90 gallon tank just got ich - I think my 3 new pictus brought it in. It's only visible on my gold severum, uaru and 3 CL's. Here's the rest of the stock:
EBJD
Spotted severum
Firemouth
3 denison barbs and 3 rainbowfish
Vampire pleco

I added about a cup of aquarium salt over the last couple days and gradually bumped the temp up to 81 - I figure I'll leave it there for about a week? Everyone actually looks happy and is eating fine... Anything else?

 

[esoxlucius]

To be honest you could go higher than that temperature wise but it's a good starting point. Just be mindful of oxygen levels when raising temp as well. A bit of extra surface agitation will help. When you think you've got rid of it and everything's looking good don't be fooled into lowering your temps too soon and doing a water change to get rid of the salt. Give it a couple of extra days to be doubly sure.

 

[skjl47]

added about a cup of aquarium salt over the last couple days and gradually bumped the temp up to 81 - I figure I'll leave it there for about a week? Everyone actually looks happy and is eating fine... Anything else?

Hello First I suggest a search on this forum as there are many threads about ich.
Best I can recall is your temp is low. The timeline cannot be predicted in advance, a week likely will not be enough. One way to judge is when you can no longer see any of the ich parasites on any fish then continue the treatment for at least 10 days.
I also do not recall exactly what the salt concentration should be but your dose may be a bit weak.

 

[Oz fish guy]

Blaze that **** with salt. Keep your water clean dude and this ich crap will be avoided

 

[Sidney73]

Ok, so what temp do u suggest for the type of fish I have?

 

[Oz fish guy]

30 deg should kill it good. Itll get worse before it gets better. But yeah keep your water super clean

 

[esoxlucius]

Ok, so what temp do u suggest for the type of fish I have?

Do a quick search on ideal temp levels for your fish and take it from there. Out of all my fish it was my dennison barbs which I feared for the most as they come from cooler fast flowing rivers. They prefer temps on the low side (mid 60's to low 70's). So as I started raising the temps slowly over a couple of days it was my dennisons that I used as a barometer. I eventually ended up at 90 and even my dennisons were fine at this. Just keep your eye on each fish, their behaviour will tell you if you're pushing it.

 

[Sidney73]

Great - thanks everyone!

 

[kewpiefishypewpie]

I thought only salt was necessary, I know duanes has mentioned this in the past.

 

[skjl47]

I thought only salt was necessary, I know duanes has mentioned this in the past.

hello; The temp raise is reported to speed up the cycle of the parasite. There are stages in the parasite's life cycle. The only stage that can be killed by methods that do not also kill the fish are effective in the brief time between the egg hatching and before the larvae attaches to a fish.
This is why many up the temps so the cycle can be sped up.

One other thing; The salt dose needs to be strong enough from the start of treatment or there is not much point in doing it.