Help!!Loaches sick!!

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Oct 20, 2005
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Fremont Ohio
75 gallon planted tank. Water parems Nitrite 0, nitrate 20, ammonia 0.

All 3 loaches have ich. I've done a 50% water change, upped the temp to 80 but they don't seem to be able to tolerate that so I take it down to 79. One of them stays at the top trying to breathe when I upped it. I've added 70 teaspoons of salt and that doesn't seem to effect the other fish but the loaches don't look good. One is getting around but the other two are hiding in the 'grass' vertically, and act like they are drunk when they come out. Does this salt/heat treatment really work? I don't want to kill them through the treatment. I started last night with gradually adding salt and raising temp. I've read the article but each one seems to say something different. I'm mixing the salt with aquarium water before pouring it in.

I posted yesterday but no response. I foolishly added some more neons about three weeks ago without quarantining them and now this. I love the loaches most of all. They have never been sick before. They are about 3-4 years old. Anything else I should be doing? I do not want to use the Rid-Ich because it sounds even more caustic.
 
Sorry to hear this--I know it's frustrating! I don't want to advise you to suddenly change treatment course, because that can be even more stressful for the fish. But, just for future reference, I successfully treated clown loaches with Rid-Ich Plus, with no losses, and seemingly no stress to the fish. I did, however, have to deal with a mini-cycle and an ammonia spike, because the Rid Ich killed off all the scuds (shrimp-y looking things) in my tank.
But, from what I've learned here, the salt treatment is effective. Although you have to stick with it for a long time. Someone else will come along soon who can give you more firsthand experience with it.
 
Please read this:
http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php?t=2599
I've never had ich with any of my loaches but the loach forum states: DO NOT add salt despite the advice that is sometimes given. Generally speaking, loaches can't deal with salt and it ends up being a further stress on them.
 
What kind of loaches? I've used salt without harm to my loaches, but it didn't fully get rid of the ich either. The most important thing is to raise and lower the salinity(temp also) slowly so as not to cause osmotic shock.
Did the fish seem to get worse after you added the salt? If so you might do a series of small water changes and see what happens.
I like Rid-ich. It's much easier and more efficient IME and I haven't had any problems with my bio-filter. Good luck!
 
Lower the water level a couple inches so the filter return splashes. Ich usually hits the gills hard & more oxygen in the water will help. If possible add a powerhead or another filter for more surface agitation.

High temps help speed the ich lifecycle but warmer water holds less oxygen.

Good luck
 
Ich + clowns continued

I did a 20 % water change about 3 hours ago and the clowns are moving more but they are moving back up to the top of the tank more often too. If I take out some more water in order to get the splash, won't that just concentrate the salt again?
 
fishorama said:
Lower the water level a couple inches so the filter return splashes. Ich usually hits the gills hard & more oxygen in the water will help. If possible add a powerhead or another filter for more surface agitation.

High temps help speed the ich lifecycle but warmer water holds less oxygen.

Good luck
Click to expand...

Ok. I lowered the water, raised the rena xp3 bar and now getting a nice splash. The loaches have returned to the bottom so I hope this means more oxygen.

Now what? Do I continue doing water changes to get the salt out or go ahead and add the Rid -Ich with the salt in there? Or just keep the temp up? This is so confusing!
 
I sympathize with your frustration. Here are the very explicit instructions that I followed when treating ich:
http://www.aquamaniacs.net/forum/cms_view_article.php?aid=27
I ended up treating with Rid Ich Plus for almost 12 days--that was 4 days after I saw the last white spot disappear. I changed 25% of the water every single day of treatment, using a water vac, and redosed the Rid Ich, just like the instructions in the above link say to do.
These instructions also advise against using salt. Many people here on AC, however, have used salt successfully. One thing I would not do is mix the two treatments. If you want to try the Rid Ich, I'd do small water changes until the salt is mostly gone, and then start using Rid Ich.
The article also advises keeping your temperature normal, to avoid extra stress on the fish. Like I said, you may hear differing opinions on this here at AC. I can at least tell you, from my own personal experience, following the instructions in the article above worked for me.
 
Thank you for the succinct instructions LeahK! I feel awful about the salt and the higher temps. It just felt so wrong to subject the loaches to further pain. I'm going to turn down the temp a bit before bed and continue doing daily water changes. How will I know when the salt is gone? Is there a test?
 
Hmmm, I don't know if there's a way to test. But you can estimate by how many water changes you do (that is, after a 25% water changes, then 25% of the original salt concentration is gone).
I guess your dilemma is this: You need to get the salt out quickly, so you can switch to Rid Ich, because the longer you take to switch treatments, the longer the ich goes untreated; but you can't remove the salt too quickly, because this can shock the fish.
Maybe you could change more water at once if you were to drip acclimate the fresh water.
It is my guess that, maybe, it's ok if the salt isn't totally removed when you start using Rid Ich. Because you have to do daily water changes with the Rid Ich anyway, the salt will be gone soon enough. But I'm really not sure about that, and I'd hate to give you bad advice, so hopefully someone else can post here and let you know.
Good luck! I hope your loaches start feeling better soon :)
 
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