Questions about Ich and treatment, Please Help!

[bfloyd]

Here is the story: Feb 8th, six days ago I brought home a new German Blue ram, but did not have a quarantine tank setup and like a dummy :wall: I introduced the new ram to my tank without a quarantine process. On Feb. 10th I noticed the new ram flashed maybe three times right after feeding. At that point I suspected Ich, but did not see any white spots on any of my fish. So, I thought about treating the tank, but decided to keep an eye out and see if it happen again or if any spots developed. The next three days I noticed no more flashing or spots. However, tonight I noticed multiple spots on my 5 cardinal tetras, none other the other fish have spots that I can see and are not acting weird. All my fish ate well tonight no problems. I was thinking about dosing the tank with salt 1 teaspoon per gallon tonight and then another teaspoon per gallon tomorrow 12hours later, if all fish seem to tolerate salt treatment as per the Ich guide on this forum Tank is already at 80 degrees F.Below is the tank specs and inhabitants.

So, for my questions:

Is this the best treatment option? Do you think my tank inhabitants which include: 7 trilineatus cories, 5 cardinal tetras, the new German blue ram and 2 Nerite snails and triumph snails will tolerate the salt treatment? Is there a better option? I am more worried about the fish than the snails, but I am concerned that the salt may kill the snails causing more problems with the water chemistry in the tank. Please help :help:

Here is the diagnostic questions and answers:


1. Size of tank? 20 gallon high

2. a. Ammonia? 0
b. Nitrite? 0
c. Nitrate? 5-10
d. pH, KH and GH? 6.8

3. Temperature? 80 ˚F

4. FW (fresh water) or BW (brackish)? Freshwater

5. How long the aquarium has been set up? Almost 2 years

6. What fish do you have? How many are in your tank? How big are they? How long have you had them?
All fish have been in the tank for almost 2 years except new addition of GBR
7 trilineatus cories size à 2- 2 ½ inch
5 Cardinal Tetras à size about 1- 1 ½ inch
1 German blue ram size à about 2- 2 ½ inch
2 Nerite snails and triumph snails

7. Were the fish placed under quarantine period (minus the first batch from the point wherein the tank is ready to accommodate the inhabitants)? No, German blue ram is new addition, added on 2/8/11. It was drip accumulated for about 1 hour then netted into tank.

8. a. Any live plants? Fake plants? à Live plants, mainly anbuias.
b. Substrate à pool filter Sand
c. Rocks, woods, fancy decors? Three pieces of drift wood, one piece with some holes present. Multiple live plants. Rock wall background made with beach pebble rocks attached with silicon glue, since start of tank.

9. a. Filtration? Aqua clear 50 gallon
b. Heater? 100 watt heater. Temperature reading 80 F

10. a. Lighting schedule? What lights are used? Lights on from 5:30pm to 10:00 pm
b. Any sunlight exposure? How long? No Direct sunlight.

11. a. Water change schedule? Once a week
b. Volume of water changed? 50% once a week
c. Frequency of gravel/sand (if any) vacuumed? Once a week.

12. Foods? New Life Spectrum Color enhancing small fish formula sinking pellets, and occasionally Hikari freeze dried blood worms.
How often are they fed? 1-2 times per day, Usually 1

13. a. Any abnormal signs/symptoms?
German Blue Ram was swimming up and down side of tank with lips against the glass quite frequently and after feeding Feb. 8th, I noticed him starch himself on the drift wood maybe 3-4 times. After that night I did not notice any more flashing. All other fish in tank showed no abnormal signs or behavior, until tonight Feb 14th I noticed multiple white spots which look like sand on my 5 cardinal tetras. No other fish have any spots as far as I can tell. All fishing are eating well.

14. a. Have you treated your fish ahead of diagnosis? No
b. What meds were used? None

 

[Hurley]

I've had great success using salt and heat to treat Ich. In fact, I've never used any other method and I have had very few deaths from ich. Just follow the guide to treating ich under the disease guide. I usually do 2tsp of salt per gallon but I do not add 1tsp/gallon all at once and then do it again 24 hours later. I add 2tsp/gallon evenly over about 2 days. It ends up being the same but I worry I will stress my fish out doing it too quickly.

Just remember, treat for 2 weeks after the last spot has disappeared.

 

[bfloyd]

Here are some pictures

 

[bfloyd]

I've had great success using salt and heat to treat Ich. In fact, I've never used any other method and I have had very few deaths from ich. Just follow the guide to treating ich under the disease guide. I usually do 2tsp of salt per gallon but I do not add 1tsp/gallon all at once and then do it again 24 hours later. I add 2tsp/gallon evenly over about 2 days. It ends up being the same but I worry I will stress my fish out doing it too quickly.

Just remember, treat for 2 weeks after the last spot has disappeared.

So in my 20 gallon tank dosing 5 teaspoons in diluted water say every 6 hours until I reach the 40 teaspoons (2tsp/gallon) total for my 20 gallon would be a good idea?

 

[Cerianthus]

Since you have well established live plants, perhaps heat + Aquarisol by Aq Products (+ maybe salt depending on plants) may do the trick in a week or two.

good Luck!

 

[Hurley]

So in my 20 gallon tank dosing 5 teaspoons in diluted water say every 6 hours until I reach the 40 teaspoons (2tsp/gallon) total for my 20 gallon would be a good idea?

Yes, that should be fine. You can do it more frequently than every 6 hours if you need to.

Since you have well established live plants, perhaps heat + Aquarisol by Aq Products (+ maybe salt depending on plants) may do the trick in a week or two.

good Luck!

I've treated heavily planted tanks with salt and heat with no ill effects. The plants should be fine since it is temporary. However, if you do see that they start to die you can always try Aquarisol too.

 

[Cerianthus]

Although Anubias may have higher tolerance to salt, I personally did not have luck with most live plants when dosed therapeutic level/conc of salt to effectively treat Ich & by the time realized plants were in trouble and relocated, only some recovered.

Unfortuantely dont remember what plants did better or worse anymore.

OP's discretion and hope all goes well!

oh, I forgot about the how plants will react to high temp as some may not tolerate as well as Anubias.

 

[bfloyd]

Salt treatment not working. Need some advice.

So, I decided use the salt treatment route, but I started slow and with low dose because I was afraid that too much salt would harm the cories. On Feb. 15 between about 12-3am I added 10tsp of table salt (1/2 tsp per gallon).Then on Feb. 16th I added another 10 tsp to bring the total salt content to 1tsp per gallon, temperature at 80-82 degrees. This is were I am at 1tsp/gallon, but it is not working.

My cardinal tetras are doing really bad at this point they are not eating, and look like they are have trouble breathing. All while swimming at the top of tank, which they do not normally do. The spots have gotten much worse also. I also noticed now that along with my ram some of the cories are flashing on the substrate. Both the ram and the cories do not have any spots visible at this point.

So, should I add more slat to raise the concentration to 2tsp per gallon or should I do a couple water changes and go the medicine route? Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Rbishop]

It has only been about 6 days since you started treatment. IME, ich always gets worse before it gets better. I'd stick with the heat and salt.

 

[jetajockey]

I agree, give it time work. It doesn't hurt to add additional aeration if the fish seem to be gasping or near the surface. Also be sure to test for toxins and change water as needed.

I've done both the heat and the heat/salt treatment and they've both worked well. I did heat only with my rams because I've read that they are sensitive to salt, but in that low of a concentration they'd probably be fine.