Ich ..should I Seperate Or Treat All

onepawnup

onepawnup

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Jan 2, 2006
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I just got home from work and seem to have an ich problem
shoud i seperate the infected ones or treat the whole tank i have five otto cats and ive read here that the salt is no good for them ?

i have a ten gal hospital tank

the main tank is 55 gal
it has
1 pleco
10 black skirt tetras (2 with a few white spots)
3 clown loaches (one with spots)
5 otto cats
3 opaline guaramis
2 paradise guaramis

please advise
Thanks
onepawnup
 
If I have an outbreak, I assume that ALL fish are likely to be affected and treat the entire tank even if only a few individuals seem affected.

You could remove the ottos to the 10 gallon if you wanted to treat them with meds instead of the salt treatment that you would do in the 55. . . ?
 
ok that makes sence but what about the otto cats i dont want to kill them with the salt ??
 
sorry yucca didnt see 2nd part of your answer
i read daavedas article on ich and he says salt should be ok for the small amound of time it will be in use

I have started raising the temp and dosed 1/4 teaspoon of salt per gal
and will increase at each hour (so much for sleeping tonight)

anyone else has advice please feel free to chime in .I can use all the help i can get

thanks
 
Dont worry about not sleeping. Go ahead and do a half dose of salt now. 25tps for you with your 55g. turn the heater up 2 degrees and go to sleep. When you wake up, turn the heater up another 2 degrees and go to work. You should be at your desired temp or close to it when you get home. Make the final adjustment on the heater and then add the other 25tsp of salt. I have done that exact same thing 3x in my fishkeeping and havent lost a fish from it yet. I have always had cories too, though I hear they are intolerant I have had no issues with salt treatments. Hell, you could probably add all the salt at once, but why risk it? I havent tried that, as waiting 24 hours before doubling the salt amount seemed like a good idea and thats what I always do. Hope that helps you get some Zs. Ick isnt the big bad monster people make it out to be, unless you let it get way out of hand, i.e. your fish look like they are swimming in a winter-wonderland. :laugh:
 
One of the reasons for raising the salinity gradually is to protect the biofilter. This gives it time to adjust to the new conditions and prevents it from crashing. Dumping all the salt in at once is risky and I have seen bad things happen (not with the fish) because of it.
 
I added a tablespoon of salt once every hour or so for 2 days (until I got up to my desired treatment). I have 4 otos and one has been missing since before the treatment. The other 3 are acting normally. I did lose one oto right away but he had been showing signs of extreme stress from being brought home so I don't think the salt was the ultimate reason for his demise. I think the rest are going to be fine through the treatment though.
 
well i have temp at 86 and salt at 2 tsp per gallon
I lost one clown loach so far (he was the start of the ich )
any sugestions or just stay the course ?
thanks
onepawnup
 
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