a couple questions on dealing with ick

switchcats

switchcats

Go Leafs Go!!!
Feb 1, 2006
73
0
0
Southernwestern Ontario
Hi All,

My 20G broke out in ick Monday night. Noticed it while I was doing the weekly water change. I have added salt, to the ratio of 1 tablespoon to 5 gallons, and have been increasing the temp. slowly. Right now it's at 83 deg (the heater is a bit slow, but real good for consistancy).

I also added the 20 drops of Quick Cure as directed on the package. And took out the carbon filters.

Now, I'm confused as to how long to keep going with the treatment. Package says 3 days, then partial water change, and should be gone. Various articles says keep going as necessary. So how long is necessary? 5 or 10 days, depending on the temp? And at what point do I need to do a water change? :confused:

Haven't lost any of the fish yet, which is a combo of platys and female bettas, but they are lying listless on the gravel. :sick:

Please help me make sure I don't lose any!

Thanks.
 
normal life cycle for ich is around 2 weeks. That means that when the last spot falls off your fish, you must keep up salt and heat for 2 full weeks. Don't even bother with the meds, the salt and heat will do the job. Gravel vacing helps becuase the second stage of the parasite is a cyst that falls to the gravel. Gravel vacing removes these, which means fewer parasites left to enter the third stage (free swimming). This is the only stage that ich can be kiled (that's what the salt is for). If the parasite can't find a host it dies (the heat speeds up the life cycle so that the free swimming stage doesn't have as long to find a host before dying of starvation.
 
So according to the conversions in the article, which is really great, thanks for the link, I only put 15 teaspoons of salt, when I should have put 40? Ouch! that seems like a lot! :eek: :thud:

Can someone please confirm this?
 
Switchcat don't raise the temperature above 82*F. Ich affects primarely the gills of the fish (no slime coat = easy place to bite). Raising the temperature lowers oxygen in the water so you can see that the heat can suffocate the fish. Another problem with raising the temperature is that the fish's metabolism speeds up requiring more oxygen but less oxygen is available. Don't worry about the salt dose. I once mistaked a tablespoon for a teaspoon and dosed the equivelent of 10 teaspoons per gallon of salt into my tank for 36 hours before I realized my mistake (I bought a hydrometer to measure the specific gravity of my water and noticed the problem). I did not lose a single fish in the event. 2 teaspoons of tablesalt per gallon will take care of the ich but if you choose to go this route instead of the quickcure, add activated carbon to the filter and do a 50% waterchange first (carbon does not remove formalin).
 
I think the oxygen level is ok, there's a lot of aggitation going on in that tank...aquaclear mini running at full, UGF with bubbles coming out of the stacks, and an 8 inch airstone making a wall of bubbles at the back of the tank. And I thought that bettas could not absorb oxygen from the water at all. Thus the reason for them going to the top every once in a while, which they are still doing.

And will the amount of salt that I put in be enough, because I can add more so that it approaches the 2 teaspoons per gallon level?

And why stop the medicine?
 
You need to up the salt to at least 1 teaspoon per gallon, many use 2 teaspoons. I use 2 teaspoons per gallon.

Bettas do get oxygen from the water, but they get it primarily from the surface. It never hurts to put an airstone in the tank during any treatment that requires you to raise the temp.

Meds + heat can equal death. Don't mix meds with heat unless the med specifically tells you you can. Some become more toxic at higher temperatures.

Meds + salt can cause undue stress to the fish and overtax them. It's like cracking an egg with a hammer. You'll most likely damage the yolk inside. Just use EITHER the salt + heat OR meds. Never mix the two.

Roan
 
Thanks Roan. :bowing:

I will add the salt to the level you mentioned. Should I do a water change first to get rid of the meds? Or is putting the carbon back in good enough to neutralize the meds?

Then I will do water changes every 4 days, for the next couple of weeks, keeping the salt and heat up. That should do the trick, right? Then after that if I don't see any spots I can bring down the temp and salt levels back down gradually? Cause I ususlly have salt in the tanks as a preventative measure anyway.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom