ich salt dosing question

C

chilligirl

AC Members
Nov 9, 2007
119
0
0
sorry, I know this subject's been covered about a gazillion times, but wasn't able to find the answer to my specific question:

I've got a very minor case of ich in my tank. It came in on my GBR, and they're the only ones showing signs. My female had a single spot of ich on her dorsal fin on Friday, the day after she spawned (the male ate all the eggs). I did a large water change on the tank (params were perfect, but did it anyway), and added a tiny bit (about 1/2 teaspoon per gallon) of salt dissolved in the new water. The spot went away within a couple of hours. Sunday afternoon, I noticed two spots on my male GBR's tail. Water params are still great, and all my fish are doing great (eating well, no signs of stress, no other signs of disease). So last night, I started turning up the temp and adding salt (dissolved in tank water). I bumped it up to 1tsp/gallon, and turned the temp up from 79 to 81. Fish seemed okay with it. Today, the spots are gone off the male's tail, but I bumped the salt up to 1 1/2tsp per gallon and turned the temp up to 83. Fish still seem fine, although the male GBR flashed a few times right after I added the salted water.

Question is, should I push it the rest of the way to 2tsp/gallon, or is it fine to leave it where it is? I don't want to stress my fish if I don't have to, and I'm especially worried for the loaches (yoyos), who I've heard don't handle salt that well. At the same time, I DO want to kill the ich outbreak before it spreads.

Last but not least, how long do I continue treatment for?
 
Two teaspoons per gallon will be too much salt. If you have already been doing this, you will want to do a water change to bring the salinity down. I would skip the salt and get your temperature up to 86F, a couple degrees on the heater at a time. No salt will be necessary. Leave the temperature there for two weeks. This should kill of any signs of ich.
 
if you raise the temp up to 86º and do not add any treatment source (meds, salt, etc.) it will just accelerate the life cycle of the ich and allow it to attack the fish quicker. the reason people raise the temp is to allow maximum exposure to the medications becaus ethe ich is going through its life cycle quicker.
 
2 tsp per gallon is just over 3 tbsp per 5 gallons. Everything I've read, including an article from this site, says to dose to 2tsp/gallon.

I don't use aquarium salt, it's much cheaper (and the same thing) to buy kosher coarse salt from the grocery store and use it. It has to be the kosher stuff, so that there aren't any additives (unlike regular table salt which has many additives).

And yes, it's true that if you just turn up the heat, you'll make things worse - you need to speed up the life cycle by turning up the heat, and add either salt or medications to kill the parasite. I opted for salt, because of the loaches and small tetras (glowlights).

Anyway, what I'm wondering is if it will still kill the parasite if I'm only at 1 1/2 tsp per gallon (same as 2 tablespoons per 5 gallons), instead of the generally recommended 2tsp per gallon? If it will, I'd like to stop there, rather than risk stressing the more delicate fish (GBR and loaches).

And does anyone know off hand how long the life cycle is at 83 degrees? I can go look it up (there was just an article on ich in the magazine I bought the other day, and have since misplaced), but thought it would be quicker to ask here :) I'll need to leave the heat up and salt treatment in for a few days longer than the life cycle.

Last but not least, bk828, if I do need to go up to 2 tsp/gallon, why would I do a water change before adding more salt? My water params are fine, so it seems it would be a waste of salt, time, etc. to do a water change than add the salt back in?
 
chilligirl said:
2 tsp per gallon is just over 3 tbsp per 5 gallons. Everything I've read, including an article from this site, says to dose to 2tsp/gallon.

I don't use aquarium salt, it's much cheaper (and the same thing) to buy kosher coarse salt from the grocery store and use it. It has to be the kosher stuff, so that there aren't any additives (unlike regular table salt which has many additives).

And yes, it's true that if you just turn up the heat, you'll make things worse - you need to speed up the life cycle by turning up the heat, and add either salt or medications to kill the parasite. I opted for salt, because of the loaches and small tetras (glowlights).

Anyway, what I'm wondering is if it will still kill the parasite if I'm only at 1 1/2 tsp per gallon (same as 2 tablespoons per 5 gallons), instead of the generally recommended 2tsp per gallon? If it will, I'd like to stop there, rather than risk stressing the more delicate fish (GBR and loaches).

And does anyone know off hand how long the life cycle is at 83 degrees? I can go look it up (there was just an article on ich in the magazine I bought the other day, and have since misplaced), but thought it would be quicker to ask here :) I'll need to leave the heat up and salt treatment in for a few days longer than the life cycle.

Last but not least, bk828, if I do need to go up to 2 tsp/gallon, why would I do a water change before adding more salt? My water params are fine, so it seems it would be a waste of salt, time, etc. to do a water change than add the salt back in?
Click to expand...

you do a water change to clear up the tank and get rid of the ich thats free floating in the tank.. when you do the water change you add new water that hasnt been treated with salt so --already salt containing water + regular water = difference in the salt concentration.. so you have to readd what you took out..
so in the end its not wasting salt or time since as you said you use kosher salt and thats pennies on the dollar.. and you should be doing water changes either way so dont really see how its a waste of anything
 
ahh, gotcha. I thought you were saying that I'd need to do a water change just because I was adding salt. Didn't realize you were talking about my regular maintenance.
 
2 tsp per gallon will be fine short term. Ich can be killed with heat alone though. There is a finite limit to the amount of heat it can stand and this is generally thought to be 86F

A good gravel vacuum during treatment is also good to get those loose cysts.

Keep treatment up until 1 week after the last sign of ich.
 
I've always treated my saltwater fish that shows sign of ich by doing a freshwater dip. I wonder if a saltwater dip would do the trick for freshwater fish, I don't think I've ever read anything about that...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom