Ick season..

[ssalyers]

By the way I read in another thread you can use table salt. I was wondering can you use the Morton Water Softener Salt. Its cheap 4 bucka a bag at Lowes.

Lupin seems to be the man to anwser this quetion.

 

[Pyramid_Party]

So does ich magically appear out of nowhere? Meaning, if its not introduced somehow, does it just appear if fish are stressed or something? Wjere does it actually come from?

 

[Lupin]

So does ich magically appear out of nowhere? Meaning, if its not introduced somehow, does it just appear if fish are stressed or something? Wjere does it actually come from?

No, it doesn't appear magically out of nowhere. It is only a myth that ich is in every tank. It is introduced via unquarantined specimens. Until the hosts become stressed, they will reside in gill tissues and will attack as outbreaks once they sense their hosts weakening due to various circumstances. This is why treatment courses are to be done in 14 days just to be sure ich is completely destroyed. The new specimens must be put under quarantine for 4 weeks or more. It's up to the owners how long they want but the longer, the better. Stubborn ones learn their lessons afterwards.

 

[Lupin]

By the way I read in another thread you can use table salt. I was wondering can you use the Morton Water Softener Salt. Its cheap 4 bucka a bag at Lowes.

Lupin seems to be the man to anwser this quetion.

You'll want sodium chloride to battle ich, not salt for water softeners. Table salt or aquarium salt, pick your choice. It doesn't matter. Just dissolve salt and add slowly to avoid osmotic shock which is fatal to fish.

 

[Druu]

I guess my tank is the latest victim...

 

[duanes]

Just because the spots on the fish are gone, don't stop treatment. There are cysts that are sitting in the substrate ready to hatch out. And it is only the freeswimming ich tomites that are killed by salt.
When ich spots dissappear, it means the spot has exploded into hundreds of immature ich that are headed into the substrate to sit temporarily dorment.
3ppt (part per thousand) salt and above is the dose that works and kills the ich as it explodes from the fish, or hatches out from the substrate.
I also just add rock salt by the handful to HOBs, or tossed in a sump and found it to be effective.
I'd keep the temp and salinity up for at least a month, to kill the dormant ones that can and will hatch out over time.
Your Uaru should be fine with the elevated temps, in fact some people recommend keeping them in the high 80s as normal routine.

 

[ssalyers]

Today is day 2 for my outbreak. Fish still have the spots. I am going to do substrate cleaning tonight an than add more salt. The Temp is sitting at 88 now. Took a full day to reach that temp. How often should a vacuuming be done?

 

[Camphilophus]

Just because the spots on the fish are gone, don't stop treatment. There are cysts that are sitting in the substrate ready to hatch out. And it is only the freeswimming ich tomites that are killed by salt.
When ich spots dissappear, it means the spot has exploded into hundreds of immature ich that are headed into the substrate to sit temporarily dorment.
3ppt (part per thousand) salt and above is the dose that works and kills the ich as it explodes from the fish, or hatches out from the substrate.
I also just add rock salt by the handful to HOBs, or tossed in a sump and found it to be effective.
I'd keep the temp and salinity up for at least a month, to kill the dormant ones that can and will hatch out over time.
Your Uaru should be fine with the elevated temps, in fact some people recommend keeping them in the high 80s as normal routine.

I've got more than just uaru in the tank though.

 

[KMKN]

just got a few days ago
i have no idea how i got it my temp was 82*- 84*

 

[duanes]

In the wild in the tropics there are seasonal changes, during the rainy season temps may drop into the low 70s, even lower in some places. In the dry season, water temps may rise into the 90s. Unless the body of water is large like the rift lakes where stability is the rule, fish will tolerate tempory shifts of temp for a month or so.
I keep Gymnogeophagus from southern South America, they normally live in high 60s to low 70s, last summer they tolerated a few weeks of mid to high 80s.