Ghostshrimp55 said:Really? More salt? What actually worked for me was following the directions on the box of aquarium salt that I bought which said to use 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons. My outbreak of ich was cleared in under a week and never came back. I also just let my regular water change schedule dilute the salt out over time. Like I said in my original post, the free swimming tomites are intolerant of relatively low salt concentrations. You shouldn't have to overdose your tank to get rid of ich. I used 10 tablespoons of aquarium salt in my 55...that's it. I used 10 because I know I don't have 55 gallons of actual water volume in there, due to the gravel and rocks in my tank. I also didn't add the salt over such a long period of time. I put the salt in an empty 2 liter soda bottle, filled it with tank water from one of the filter tubes, and shook it up, making sure all of the salt crystals dissolved. I then added half the bottle to the tank, waited a few hours, then added the rest. No fish deaths and, a few days later, no ich. Have you ever tried dosing at lower salt levels? You might be adding much more than you need.
I got the instructions from Dr. Erick Johnson, a well respected Koi vet and author of Koi..He has an internet site that he runs..His instructions for Ich are:
1. Remove valued live plants.
2. Raise temperature
3. Increase aeration!
4. Add one teaspoon of salt per gallon.
5. Twelve hours later, add another one teaspoon of salt per gallon.
6. Twelve hours later, add another one teaspoon of salt per gallon.
7. Within 48-60 hours of the second salt dose at higher temperature, the Ich will be gone.
8. Leave salt in the water for another 3-5 days unless you're worried about your live plants.
9. Remove salt via partial water changes. (30-40% at a time if desired).
That is his instructions and I stand by it..I been using his method all the time and I never saw any bad reaction to any of my fishes....The salt dosage you mentioned is too low and I think it would not cure Ich.. Yes, it says that on the side of the carton for dosage but that is not for curing diseases like Ich. And if you look at the link the other person posted above, it would say 3 tsp per gallon is the max for salt treatment..I remember that link and I read it before since it was a sticky here in aquariacentral..But yea, whatever, I am here not to argue or anything..
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