ich on Farlowella...no salt

[mykidsmylife]

:mad: I brought home an adorable Farlowella Catfish (Twig fish) Tuesday night...tonight, I notice it has ich.....ARG!!! I tried raising the temp...but the cheap heater I have in the tank won't seem to raise the temp above 81, I go to my aquarium salt and do not have near enough to treat it. Just barely had 20 teaspoons for the 40 gallon tank which I added. Can I add some non-iodized table salt for now??
All water checks out fine. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 10 nitrates, ph high as usual at 8.2.
Tomorrow I will go buy a better heater and more aquarium salt. Is there anything else I can do for tonight?? :sad:
Tank inhabitants: 40 gallon tank
10 neons (one with only one eye-female beta in beta jail for crime)
5 rasboras
5 rummynosed
6 corydoras
1 Farlowella (4 inches nose to tail)

[mykidsmylife]

I just thought of something? Should I do a partial water change tonight taking it from the gravel??? I would need to get the water and put an aerator in it...ph tap much lower than tank ph. I will do that now and wait for reply.
thanks
mykidsmylife

[RTR]

Table salt is just fine for Ich treatment. Do pre-dissolve all salt in tank water before adding it to the tank. Adding dry salt to tanks with bottom dwellers is asking for issues.

[mykidsmylife]

Table salt is just fine for Ich treatment. Do pre-dissolve all salt in tank water before adding it to the tank. Adding dry salt to tanks with bottom dwellers is asking for issues.

Oh thank you!!! Yes, I knew to predesolve, esp. with those perky little cory's doing their thing! LOL thank you for reminding me.
I will disolve some salt now. Thank you thank you!
mykidsmylife

[Larissa]

as someone has already said, iodized table salt is fine but when I was at Wal-Mart the other day I found non-iodized table salt and it was much cheaper than aquarium salt. Also, since it's for human consumption it could be cleaner than aquarium salt.

[mykidsmylife]

Thank you. I had accidentally bought a box of the non-iodized table salt on a trip to the grocery store so luckily I had some available.
This morning the Farlowella has no new spots that I can tell and the other fish are still spot free. Hopefully I caught it all on time.
Thank you all so much.
mykidsmylife

[ghinksmon]

Mykidsmylife,

Just a side note; why are you keeping your pH high with typicaly soft-acidic inhabitants?

[mykidsmylife]

Mykidsmylife,

Just a side note; why are you keeping your pH high with typicaly soft-acidic inhabitants?

It's not intentional. I know I have ph issues (well water) but I don't want to add any kind of chemical. I am working on getting an RO water system here at home to make a gradual switch, but the cost is holding me back. Believe me....I worry more about that PH than anything. If anyone has any more "natural" ways to lower ph...throw it at me and I will give it a try. The tank has aquarium natural gravel, plastic/silk plants and a nice piece of driftwood, a bubble wall in the back, and a tacky bubbling/aerator artifical coral. I am also fishlessly cycling a 75 gallon that has the same ph problems. Tap water test fine straight from the tap, but jumps to the 8.2 as it ages.
I can get RO water from the fish store, but it just isn't feasable to haul all the water from the store that's about 20 miles from me to home for water changes etc for both tanks. Plus, I'm not crazy about hooking the RO system up to my plumbing. I have been desperately trying to find one I can just use at the kitchen faucet, then put away.

mykidsmylife

[icka]

high ph does not typicallly make a big difference in fish lives... most of the time the fish stores use the same water you do, if not RO water, and it will have a high ph as well. Most fish can adapt very well and that is why it is important to acclimate them right but typically not a big deal.......

i have heard driftwood will take the ph down, but it may take it down too fast that your fish can't acclimate right, or it may only take it down for a little bit then shot back up and killing the fish.

[mykidsmylife]

I went to the LFS today and bought a better heater. Perhaps too big of one..200 watt for a 40 gallon tank? Anyways...I gradually got the temp up...perhaps too high?? Right now it is at 84.5. It's warmer today too outside...so that probably adds to it. Is that too high?? They tried to tell me that salt and higher temps alone wouldn't cure the ich and wanted to sell me rid ich (? i think that was the name) but I am so anti-chemical about everything in my house...I said no thanks...I'll stick with the salt. Tonight one of the Rummy nosed tetra's died and there is a spot on another one. :( It's the first fish I lost except one murdered by a female beta (currently in heated beta jail)
I really hope that I don't lose the Farlowella. It's is just the coolest fish and my 6 year old DD is in LOVE with it...she calls it Sneaky because it "sneaks up" on the algea disc we feed it. Has anyone else kept these??? My impression so far is a really interesting, gentle fishy. I think he may eventually go into my 75 gallon as he grows bigger. We LOVE this guy...or gal I suppose.
The good news is I had them test my fishlessly cycling 75 gallon and some nitrates are finally showing up. YEAH :thm: I would say in another week I should be able to do a water change and add my fishy...if I ever decide EXACTLY what I want in there....I keep eyeing these beautiful angel babies they have....I think that will be my first inhabitants.
Thanks to all for their help and information. I don't know how I could do this without the kindness of AC people willing to share their knowledge. I am praying hard I don't lose anymore fish to this ich. I suppose everyone has to go thru it with their tanks, but I DONT like it one bit. :rant:
mykidsmylife

[bubbles42151]

81 degrees is fine. you should continue treating for a couple more days to make sure and kill all juvinille stages of the ich parasite.

[Vyper]

mykidsmylife, what about adding a UV sterilizer ?, its chemical free and will definetly help with the ICH problem. I've used one for the last 12 months and never looked back, my tank has never looked better and touch wood I've not had ICH since adding it, though I've just added 6 new mollies to my tank yesterday so fingers crossed eh ?. Keep going though with the salt treatment.

[RTR]

The temp at ~85F is near-ideal, but you do need to watch the fish when the tank is that warm. If they are breathing very rapidly or gasping just below the water surface, you need to increase the current/aeration to boost O2 transfer into the water.

The heat & salt treatment should be continued beyond the last visible Ich spots. At warm temps the cycle is at its minimum of about 3 days. I continue treatment for 10 days after the last visible sypmtom, so for me 3+ cyles past symptoms. Then you can reduce the temp slowly and dilute out the salt with water changes.

[mykidsmylife]

mykidsmylife, what about adding a UV sterilizer ?, its chemical free and will definetly help with the ICH problem. I've used one for the last 12 months and never looked back, my tank has never looked better and touch wood I've not had ICH since adding it, though I've just added 6 new mollies to my tank yesterday so fingers crossed eh ?. Keep going though with the salt treatment.

It's so funny you asked that!! I have ordered one from my LFS and it will be in on Teusday! :laugh: I even bought a power head today to run it with. I have major algea issues because my tanks are kept in a room with TONS of natural light (think huge big windows on every single wall...I refuse to block the light with curtains etc) I haven't had algea with these two tanks YET! The reason I gave up my aquariums years ago was due to algea blooms and I researched and decided this would be an answer...not a cure mind you I know. And no....I do not keep the tanks in front of a window...but there is so much natural light in the room...I don't even need to turn the lights on the tanks in daylight.
Thanks for the suggestions.
mykidsmylife

[mykidsmylife]

The temp at ~85F is near-ideal, but you do need to watch the fish when the tank is that warm. If they are breathing very rapidly or gasping just below the water surface, you need to increase the current/aeration to boost O2 transfer into the water.

The heat & salt treatment should be continued beyond the last visible Ich spots. At warm temps the cycle is at its minimum of about 3 days. I continue treatment for 10 days after the last visible sypmtom, so for me 3+ cyles past symptoms. Then you can reduce the temp slowly and dilute out the salt with water changes.

Thank you so much RTR. I lowered the water level a bit so that the water would "splash" a bit more from the filter (It's a Eclipse 3 hood system on this 40 gallon tank......40 gallon TALL tank)
Would you suggest doing at least partial water changes during the salt treatment?? The water parameters are still testing great today. I know I would need to replace the salt for the amount of water I pull out...but if the water is testing well, should I leave well enough alone?
Thank you again, I think my luck for stumbling on this wonderful group.
mykidsmylife.

[RTR]

I continue my normal water changes during Ich treatment, I just add salt at the same level as the tank water removed, and warm the replacement water a bit to be close if not exactly tank temperature.

And I do use a manual siphon and buckets for that, rather than my Python, normal quarantine precautions to avoid spreading infections to the other tanks.