Wonderful Ick :( Help Please!!

[d3adlydesignz]

So I have Ick in my 150 Gallon aquarium. I'm working on raising the temp to 86 degrees and I'm wanting to treat it with the salt method. Now my concern is I have a Royal Pleco. Will the salt kill the pleco? Or is he safe to stay in the tank during the treatment??

Also just to be sure I have been reading that I add 1 teaspoon per gallon of water.

So 1 teaspoon X 150 gallons = 3.125 Cups

Or 2 Tablespoons per 5 Gallons of water. 150 divided by 5 = 30 : 30 x 2 = 60 tablespoons = 3.75 Cups

Should I do 3 or should I go with the full 3.75? Also adding salt across a 24 hr period. So I plan on doing around a cup +/- per 8 hrs.

I've dealt with Ick in smaller tanks before and used store bought medications but with a 150 gallon I think that the cost to treat the entire tank plus having to take out the carbon would be a hassle. And it would be alot easier if I can successfully treat it this way.

 

[Drstrangelove]

I can't speak for the pleco. Get an an answer on all your fish before you proceed.

The sticky says 2 tsp per gallon. And experienced users have said it needs to be at least 3 ppt which is 1.85 tsp per gallon. So, 1.85 - 2.00 tsp per gallon, not 1.

So, I'm coming up with ~5.7 - 6.15 cups of salt.

That's assuming all of the water is 150 gallons. E.g., if you have a 50 gallon sump in a bare tank, then you have 200 gallons, but if you no sump, but do have sand or rocks, it might be closer to 135 gallons.

Regardless, do not add all the salt at once. Space it all out over 12 hours, but ideally a bit longer. Fish that can safely handle 3 ppm salt----if done gradually----can die if the tank suddenly goes from zero to 3.

 

[d3adlydesignz]

Very good info.! I do have a QT tank. Do you think it would be best to put pelcos in there then treat the QT tank with pleco safe treatment? And for my 150 gallon would it be ok to add half in one day say at 2 different doses. Then the second half the next day in another two doses. ATM I only have approximately 3 cups of aquarium salt.

Also I just discovered the sticky on ick! Very nice, I didn't notice that before I posted this.

 

[predatorkeeper87]

salt and plecos don't mix. I'd wager the amount needed to treat ich is going to have a bad reaction to the pleco.

How bad is the infection? A few white bumps or do you have fish that are covered?

depending on the severity of this infection I would bump my heat and leave it for 5-7 days and monitor twice a day. see if more spots emerge or if you notice a lack of them within the week of heat treatment.

After that I suggest you bite the bullet and buy a few bottles of paraguard by seachem. Its not expensive compared to everything else in the hobby and it will 100% rid you of your ich issues and the pleco will take that treatment far better than salt I can assure you of that.

 

[d3adlydesignz]

salt and plecos don't mix. I'd wager the amount needed to treat ich is going to have a bad reaction to the pleco.
How bad is the infection? A few white bumps or do you have fish that are covered?

depending on the severity of this infection I would bump my heat and leave it for 5-7 days and monitor twice a day. see if more spots emerge or if you notice a lack of them within the week of heat treatment.

After that I suggest you bite the bullet and buy a few bottles of paraguard by seachem. Its not expensive compared to everything else in the hobby and it will 100% rid you of your ich issues and the pleco will take that treatment far better than salt I can assure you of that.

Atm there are two fish with random spots. And will do on the heat. On the paraguard does it stain?

 

[predatorkeeper87]

Atm there are two fish with random spots. And will do on the heat. On the paraguard does it stain?

I'd just monitor with a high heat for a week, I've had sporadic ich outbreaks that were cured with heat and water changes. Sometimes the fish just need an immune boost for a little bit and they can fend off the parasite themselves. Ich is present in every single body of water anywhere haha but fish with a strong immune system never fall victim.

Do small 15-25% wc's every day and gravel vac thoroughly. This will aid in the removal of the cysts that are currently dormant in/on the substrate.

paraguard can stain if used in high amounts as it does contain malachite green but I've never seen more than a slight tint of green on the silicone in my tanks if anything at all.

 

[d3adlydesignz]

I have sand. Just vac the top the best I can I suppose?

 

[predatorkeeper87]

I have sand. Just vac the top the best I can I suppose?

yup yup. My assumption is the infection will go away mostly on its own with heat and pristine water conditions. But of course keep an eye on it, nothing worse than seeing a fish that looked like it jumped into a container of salt.

 

[Yuki Rihwa]

I just want verify that tsp = teaspoon right? 2 teaspoon per 5 gallons kinda weak to kill ich along with heat. I used 1 table spoon of salt per 5 gallons and 86F ich gone within 3 days but for safety caution I keep the high temp for at least 2 weeks.

 

[BIG-G]

If you have another tank you could move the pleco and treat him with Kick Ich its pretty safe, says safe for plants inverts and scaless fish.
I have used it for loaches and it worked great.
Then use salt on the main tank
Just an option. It would be pretty expensive to treat a large tank with it thou.