Does MelaFix work for ich? I've never used it for that, I hate to drive 45 miles for nothing. I"ve already bumped the temp up and added salt, but it doesn't seem to be helping.
No Melafix won't work as far as I know. Stick with the higher temp (86F) and salt dose of 1 tsp per gallon (make sure it is NaCl). It takes more than a day to cure ich so don't worry that you see no response just yet. In fact keeping the treatment up for 3 weeks is the best way to make sure you get no repeat ich in the tank.
I have seen a lot of posts on the net spewing salt and temp for treating ich. Since I was looking for a natural cure for ich I thought I would give it a try... why not, it sounded logical.
I raised the temp from 79 to 84 over a four hour period and then added aquarium salt at a rate of 1 tsp per gallon. I started with 1/4 teaspoon per gallon and then added another 1/4 teaspoon per gallon 1 hour later.
By the third hour when I was going to add the third 1/4 teaspoon per gallon I had noticed that my fish were extremely lethargic so I discontinued adding salt but left the temp at 84.
As time went along the fish were getting worse, so I started water changes and as the salted water was replaced with fresh water they started livening up. I changed out the water over several hours and eneded up loosing two Balas and almost a third and lost 5 tetras. The Balas under their throat were burned.
After thinking about it, duh, fresh water fish do not live in salt water, heck they don't even live in brakish water. Could it be that fresh water fish are concidered fresh water fish because they live in fresh water?