Ok. No need to discuss how I got ich in my tank. I'm retarded. This tank is about 12 weeks old (see signature). It is moderately planted, but the plants are still young and small. If I have to kill them, I would rather do it now, then when they are all grown, so I want to make sure I get them all. I started a Malachite Green treetment 2 days ago, But I am having my doubts. The treatement is just for 4 days. If I understand Ich, I won't be able to kill them until they fall off and resurface again in a week or two. Is that true of malachite green also? Today I am supposed to do a 25 % water change and add the second dose, but I am considering doing a much larger water change and doing the salt treatment instead. If I did that, I would slowly raise my temp to 82 degrees over the next couple of days, and also raise the salt in my tank to 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons per gallon in the same time period. Since the temp is only 82, would 2 weeks be required to make sure that I get the swarmers when they resurface? Any ideas would be appreciated.
Ich, Plants Salt, Temp, Malachite Green
- Thread starter livingword26
- Start date
I've been having the same thought with my current tanktastrophy But I'm planning to let the parasite clear run it's course before endangering my plants with the salt.
I need to find out first if my angel would be harmed by it.
I need to find out first if my angel would be harmed by it.
You need to get the temperature up to 87F. Two weeks after you see the last signs of ich it will be safe to put the temperature back to normal.
Ich always seems worse until it gets better , i.e. several days after treatment begins. I'm a malachite user but other TX will work too, just pick 1 & stick with it. A week or so AFTER the last visible spots on your fish should work.
IMHO I would not do that one.
The maximum recommended salt concentration is 1 tablespoon / 5 gallons.
I have had to fight Ich a couple of times.
I start with a salt concentration of 1 tablespoon / 20 gallons and a temperature of 78F.
I have never had to get past 1 tablespoon / 7.5 gallons and a temperature of 82F.
This has worked for me but I have begun the treatment at the first sign of Ich.
Additional Items.
May taper up period is approximately one week.
After no signs of Ich are visible I maintain the salt concentration and temperature steady for a week before starting the taper down period which is also a week.
TR
Never used salt or meds for Ich, but then again I've only had it twice.
Just raise the temp to about 85 for 2-3 weeks, one week after the last visible signs, as mentioned above. Just raise the temp slowly over, say 2 days, and the same when lowering it. Never harmed the inhabitants, fish or plants. Actually some fish freaked for the first day or so, but after that they went back to normal. Just keep an eye on them, heck they are already flashing, you won't stress them much more.
Just raise the temp to about 85 for 2-3 weeks, one week after the last visible signs, as mentioned above. Just raise the temp slowly over, say 2 days, and the same when lowering it. Never harmed the inhabitants, fish or plants. Actually some fish freaked for the first day or so, but after that they went back to normal. Just keep an eye on them, heck they are already flashing, you won't stress them much more.
Take the plants out, put them in a vase in the windowsill where they will get sunlight. Treat the tank with salt for 14 days to cure the ich. Once the ich is cured, put the plants back in. Now you are ich free. The ich will die on the plants without a host and the salt will kill the ich that does have access to a host. Read up on the salt treatment for ich. I hate the heat treatment as warm water holds little oxygen and infected fish already have compromised gills.
IMO with 8 barbs and 1 gourami, you don't have a huge bio load using O2, I wouldn't worry about the water not holding oxygen. again watch them, in the morning if they are gasping at the surface, adjust the spray bar to agitate the surface more. I did the heat treatment with 3x the load in a 29AGA without adjusting the spray bar and even my BN plecos (who love fast moving oxygenated water(they use to hangout on the HOB filter return, out of the water)) stayed at the bottom without being stressed.
That is s a great idea (and a 'duh' moment for me). As fumbler with plants, I have a question. Will a window without direct sun also keep the plants happy during this traumatic phase? In other words, its a dim window better for them than ich treatment?
FYI, after bad experiences with salt in the past, I use Ric-Ich and more than the normal darkness time, as well as removing carbon and higher heat.