To kill ich you need 3 teaspoons of salt per gallon or 1 tablespoon per gallon to make a 0.3% salt solution. I would turn the heat down to 82*F (even though ich can reproduce at those temperatures the salt will kill it the ich). High temperatures are very stessful for most fish and if you combine it with high salt, you could see some problems. Leave the salt in for 3-5 days after the last spot dissapear and then start doing 40% water changes every 2nd day for a week or so to remove the salt. After that you can resume your normal water change schedule. It normally takes me 7 to 10 days to CURE ich with salt.
Ick... Help. Also, Applus+ Ick meds?
- Thread starter SnowHeart
- Start date
SnowHeart said:
obviously you have a few options on how you want to do it. in the article it says a temp over 86* will kill ich (there are some that have withstood that temp but its rare) the last time i had to deal with ich i successfully killed it by increasing the temp to 87* with no salt.(some say i am taking a chance but i just wanted to see if it would work and so far so good) my fish seemed to be ok with it and that worked. i kept it at that temp for a total of 3 weeks. it took 1 week to clear all the ich from fish and kept it at 87* for another 2 weeks after the last ich spot dropped from the fish.
i would just follow what the article says to do. i have had to deal with ich a few times becuase i dont have a q-tank for new fish. ive only used 1 tsp per gallon with a raised temp and that worked. i would have only raised the salt amount if the ich withstood that amount for more than 2-3 weeks. im just very cautious now, since ive killed a bunch of fish with other medication. in the article dave says he likes to use 2 tsp per gallon so i dont think 3 tsp would be necessary unless 1-2 didnt work. i would try and put the least amount of stress on them as i could. i would start with 1 tsp per gallon and keep an eye on your fish, if all seems good and you want to put more salt in then you have that option.
as for your water changes i would just do a 50% change, bring your salt to 1 tsp per gallon, the next day do another large water change 40-50%,(make sure to replace 1 tsp per gallon in the new water) you cannot do to many water changes so if you feel like you want to do another large change again the next day then you can. as far as the water changes after all is cured, you dont have to worry about getting all the salt out all fast. when i see all is cured (1-2 weeks after the last ich spot fell off the fish) i just stop putting salt in the water changes and do my regular weekly water changes and eventually the salt will be taken out.
all the info i have said is just what i would do if it were my situation based on daves article and personal experience.
GOOD LUCK!
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Just a quick update here. Things seem to have stabilized. Most of the fish seem to be doing fine, although 5 of the 7 cardinal tetras (both of the old ones plus three of the new ones) died. Temperature is being maintained at 82 degrees, with a salt content of about 1.5 teaspoons per gallon. I was afraid to put in any more salt over the weekend because the copper ions were probably still in the tank and I didn't want to completely overstress my already diminished stock of fish.
Currently, appetites seem to have decreased (not sure what that may mean) and one of the new male guppies has had is tail fin nibbled at. :huh: Otherwise, everyone seems to be fairly healthy, active and responsive. The more "vulnerable" members of the community (including a clown pleco, an otto and a loach) all appear to be doing well.
Going to keep the salt in the tank at current levels until Thursday, then do a 50% water change and another on Friday (assuming no reappearance of ick).
Edit: Returned home and the last two tetras had died yet everyone else continues to be fine... even the pleco who had been hiding has finally come out and is actively swimming around and enjoying himself. I'm wondering if the tetras just can't handle the salt and the heat? There's no way they would have developed ick so quickly and have died so quickly from it... I never even noticed spots on these last two guys, who were part of the "new shipment," so I'm thinking it has to be a treatment related thing that killed them.
Very sad, but hopefully everyone else will get through this.
Currently, appetites seem to have decreased (not sure what that may mean) and one of the new male guppies has had is tail fin nibbled at. :huh: Otherwise, everyone seems to be fairly healthy, active and responsive. The more "vulnerable" members of the community (including a clown pleco, an otto and a loach) all appear to be doing well.
Going to keep the salt in the tank at current levels until Thursday, then do a 50% water change and another on Friday (assuming no reappearance of ick).
Edit: Returned home and the last two tetras had died yet everyone else continues to be fine... even the pleco who had been hiding has finally come out and is actively swimming around and enjoying himself. I'm wondering if the tetras just can't handle the salt and the heat? There's no way they would have developed ick so quickly and have died so quickly from it... I never even noticed spots on these last two guys, who were part of the "new shipment," so I'm thinking it has to be a treatment related thing that killed them.
Very sad, but hopefully everyone else will get through this.
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Two of the four guppies have now also died, and the male swordtail was showing the "white spots" the last couple nights. Have increased temperature to 85 degrees, and done a 40% water change with 1 heaping tablespoon of salt per gallon.
:hang: :sad:
:hang: :sad:
The ich should have cleared up by now if you had the temperature above 80* and 1 tablespoon per gallon of salt. You probably have a salt resistant strain which would die with much higher dosages (but too risky at this point). I think you need to remove the salt via waterchanges. Do 3 50% waterchanges seperated by 12 hours to get your salt level down. Go and buy some medication. I've had success with Mardel's Maracide and start treating with that. I treat with the water temperature at 82* for the three treatments they reccomed on day 1, 3, and 5. This should completely erradicate the ich from your tank after treatment 2 with treatment 3 to get any longer lived parasites. This medicine is very gentle curing my red rainbow shark and barbs (who normally are very sensitive to malachite green) since it only keeps to malachite green in the water column for about 6 hours. After that the medicine works by using the chitosan bonding agent to prevent reinfection and also expose any attacking ich parasites to the malachite (now attached to the chitosan) as they try to bite the fish killing them.
Unfortunately, that's not going to be practical in my situation. I'm flying out of town for a week on Saturday morning and while I trust my neighbor to watch and feed my fish, I'm not so crazy about asking her to do water changes and medication.rrkss said:
Very sadly, I think the only thing I can do at this point is hope the increased temp and salt will do the trick without too many more casualties.
I'll definitely try to track down the medication for the future, though. I have a feeling some of my losses here was due to the panic reaction of using the copper-based medication first, then switching to the salt... Just too much stress on the poor guys. :sad:
Hopefully the salt + heat does work. Maybe your concentration was not high enough until now. I keep hearing people reccomend 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons or two teaspoons per gallon. Both dosages are not high enough to be totally effective against ich. 3 teaspoons per gallon or 1 tablespoon per gallon should erradicate most cases of ich. In my years of fishkeeping I have only dealt with one strain that did not get killed by that salt concentration so it is still rare. Make sure you increase aeration though as salt + heat = less oxygen in the water.
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Yeah, I've got an HOB rated for 70 gallons running at full speed and have lowered the water by 1.5 inches for increased surface aggitation. (I think I read that on the Ich article.)rrkss said:
How did you add the salt? Are you just dumping the salt in there? What I have been doing is mixing the salt with tank water, and then dripping it into the tank with a 1/4" hose out of the bucket. This take's awhile, but it helps aclimate the fish better to the salt. I have noticed when I dump the little amount of water that is left in the bucket into the tank that the fish swim to the other side of the tank. If you are just dumping the salt into the tank then this could be the problem for the fish kill.
