Treating Ich

mikehawk

Gambusia
MFK Member
Aug 22, 2005
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I bought some goldfish feeders from Big Al's on Saturday, and today (Wednesday) I noticed they have ich. I pulled all the goldfish from my aro tank and put them in a bucket with some ich treatment and an air pump. I figured they'd be fine in there for the 4 days required to treat them. I have not seen any ich on the aro or his tankmates, but, I'm concerned that there is ich in the water. Is there any way I can treat the aro tank without using the blue stuff that will stain the silicone?
 

joeytoe

Semper fidelis
MFK Member
Sep 10, 2005
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mikehawk said:
I bought some goldfish feeders from Big Al's on Saturday, and today (Wednesday) I noticed they have ich. I pulled all the goldfish from my aro tank and put them in a bucket with some ich treatment and an air pump. I figured they'd be fine in there for the 4 days required to treat them. I have not seen any ich on the aro or his tankmates, but, I'm concerned that there is ich in the water. Is there any way I can treat the aro tank without using the blue stuff that will stain the silicone?
There are other Ick meds out there that dont discolor the water, last time I saw Ick on feeders I bought I treated both the feeders an my tank with Jungle Ick Clear Tank Buddies there like Alker seltzer tablets. They disolve an treat the water, worked great for my tank.
 

guppy

Small Squiggly Thing
Apr 15, 2005
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You could also do the salt treatment for a few days. 2 teaspoons per gallon dissolved in water then added to your tank. It kills the free swimming stage of ick.
 

mikehawk

Gambusia
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Aug 22, 2005
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Is it safe to use meds and salt at the same time? Also, will the salt screw with the aro or its tankmates?

I have all these in the 55gal:
silver aro
white fin shark (looks just like a rainbow shark, except for the color of the fins)
chinese algea eater
crawfish
clown loach
 

mikehawk

Gambusia
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Aug 22, 2005
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Well, I vacuumed the gravel and changed about 30% of the water. While I was doing that the aro was freakin out and tried to jump, but hit the lid. Then I pulled the filter cartridges and cut some foam filter media for the empty plastic grates that come with the emperor 400. Then I dropped in the tank buddies fizz tabs, which turned my water blue. I just hope it doesn't stain anything. Then I added a cup of doc wellfish's aquarium salt, which should be about 48 teaspoons. It looks like it just snowed in my aquarium, I hope I didn't put too much salt in. And, as I was adding the salt I saw that when the aro jumped, he put a nice sized scratch on his head, with some skin hanging off. Will the salt burn an open wound on a fish like it will on a person?

Also, as I was adding the salt I saw an earthworm come to surface. Heh heh, I gues they don't like salt. He was just in there because a while back I was experimenting with the aro. I wanted to see what kind of live foods I could get him to eat, and I found out he doesn't really care about worms.
 

guppy

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Apr 15, 2005
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I don't know if salt in cuts feels the same for fish but in the future just to distribute the salt faster and prevent brine spots you could dissolve the salt in some water first, then pour it in. How big is your tank?
 

mikehawk

Gambusia
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Aug 22, 2005
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It's a 55 gal. The salt isn't really an issue. As soon as I was done posting, I went to check on the tank and the salt had already dissolved.

The jungle ick clear fizz tabs directions say, "Add one tablet to each ten u.s. gallons of aquarium water. Use 1/2 of a tablet on scaleless, weak, sensitive or small fish. There is no need to raise the water temperature. Remove carbon from filter during use. If ick persists, treat every 24 hours until it clears. Change 25% of the water before adding any new dose. To prevent secondary bacterial infections, use fungus clear following treatment. Caution: Use only as directed. Do not overdose. Note: May stain silicone sealant and other aquatic/non-aquatic materials."

But, in an article on cichlid-forum it says that there are 3 life cycles of ich, and you should treat the tank for 3 days after the visible signs have cleared up. I want to get rid of the ich, but I don't want to overdose as the directions cautioned me. And, should I add salt every day with water changes and medicine?

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ich.php
 

redtailfool

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Feb 17, 2005
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This is what i do and it works for me everytime.. In fact , i just had a ich outbreak in my 2 tanks and this treatment worked.

add 1 tablespoon of rock salt per 5 gallons, then bump up the temp ( gradually ) to 86 or higher ( i do 88 ) ..and maintain for at least a week. When doing water changes, replace the amount of salt in proportion with the water taken out.

Works for me everytime.
 

guppy

Small Squiggly Thing
Apr 15, 2005
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I really don't know, I haven't used any anti ick meds except salt since the 70s.
 
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