Ick + Salt

[PMK]

Ok So i recently had aick break out from some fish i recently got now i have raised the temp to 86 degrees and add 2 tablespoons of salt per gallon diluted in water before adding it to the tank. I feel dumb asking this since i ve never had a ick break out but do i add salt everyday or do any water changes while im medicating the tank since its about 10 days i need to have the temp so high. Or stick to my usaul water changes and just add salt after the water change.

 

[soggysandwich]

you only add salt with new water

 

[Pufferpunk]

Adding that much salt to a FW tank is asking for problems. I always suggest 1 tbsp/10g the 1st day & then double that the next day, so it totals 1 tbsp/5g. That's all the salt you need for ich. Also, add an airstone to make up for depleted O2 from the high temps & do large (80%) WC every other day, while cleaning the substrate.

 

[PMK]

you only add salt with new water

Thanks ill only add it after ive done a water change

Adding that much salt to a FW tank is asking for problems. I always suggest 1 tbsp/10g the 1st day & then double that the next day, so it totals 1 tbsp/5g. That's all the salt you need for ich. Also, add an airstone to make up for depleted O2 from the high temps & do large (80%) WC every other day, while cleaning the substrate.

Thats exactly why i was asking since i was going by sticky on ick here which didnt mention anything specific on water changes or adding more salt here it is. And I already have an airstone in the tank as well. Thanks for the advice



I am writing this because it is something that comes up so often.
Ich is a protozoal infection that afflicts fish and can rapidly kill them, most often by damaging gill tissue.
The organism goes through a life cycle of;
a small white spot feeding on your fish,
which drops off to the floor of your tank and encysts,
while encysted it divides into up to 2000 new mobile organisms,
the cyst ruptures, releasing the mobile organisms which seek out a host.
Only the mobile stage is vulnerable to treatment by anything that will not also kill your fish.

Here is an old fashioned but very effective method for treatment.
It can be used for most fish but morymids, corys, and some pims are sensitive to salt. Because the organism infest the tank, the whole tank should be treated.

Raise the temp of your tank to at least 85-86 degrees F.
Add aquarium salt (dissolved in water) at a ratio of 2 teaspoons of salt per gallon of water in your tank.
Now wait, while waiting it does not hurt to add a powerhead or airstone to increase the O2 level.
Over the first couple days your fish will look worse but then they will clear up. about the sixth day they will look clear but because some ecystments have not yet hatched keep the treatment up for the full 10 days.
If you are not able to raise the temperature you need to extend the treatment, at 85 the ich's life cycle is quick but at 72 it can take weeks, below 70F treat for 6 weeks.

There are medicines you can use but many fish are sensitive to them, you can also try just heat at 90-91 degrees F but some fish can't take that heat and some strains of ich can survive it.
The salt and heat method is one I have used several times with sucess.

 

[Pufferpunk]

You wrote 2 tablespoons.

 

[guppy]

Yep, I hope you meant teaspoons

 

[PMK]

You wrote 2 tablespoons.

Yep, I hope you meant teaspoons

Yes i meant teaspoons force of habit from cooking i use tablespoons cooking alot more then teaspoons.



Thanks for the help guys they looking worse so i can tell the ick's life cycle has sped up so ill keep up on the water changes and stuff ill let you know if they pull through

 

[Wolf3101]

I never do water changes until after an Ich outbreak is contained. This usually takes 4 to 8 days depending on the temperiture...the closer you get to 90 the shorter amount of time it will take...
Measure and introduce the salt ONCE. Thats the only way you can control the actual salinity of the water without a meter. Preforming water changes and adding salt in steps is counter productive in the treatment of ich. After two weeks...resume normal water changes without adding any salt. Eventually the salinity level will return to normal.

 

[Pufferpunk]

It's not counter productive if you replace the same amount of salt you remove. The reasons for large water changes is to remove as many of the free-swimming parasites as possible. Very necessary part of the treatment. Add Melafix daily to help heal damaged skin by the parasites. The ich lifecycle is 21 days.

 

[Wolf3101]

The cycle varies with temperiture. We normally treat at 92 hence the shorter cycle.

In spite of your best efforts you can never remove Ich from a tank through water changes and no mater how careful you are large water changes make it difficult to maintain a speciffic salinity. Large risk for little benefit. Even the meds sold for the treatment of ich recomend suspending water changes during treatment.

We have never lost a fish to ich and have treated 4 outbreaks...(three traced to same LFS saddly) successfully in the last couple of years.