Salt tratment for ich; SA cichlid fry

[sumthin fishy]

Sooooo

Every silver linings got a touch of grey.

I was so excited to see convict fry in my newish 55 gallon. Then I notice the telltale white spots of ich on one of my rainbows. Now a bit on my inhabitants. I wanted a communtiy setup, I also got a few hatchets and corries, but those darned cichlids are so appealing. I purchased a pair of juvi convicts(well actually a male from one store and a female from another) to breed. Put the corries in my 10 temporarily and figured the other would be OK for a minute. Before any of this, I confirmed with my lfs(different from the 2 stores where I got the cons) that they would take them off my hands, parrents too, when they bread, since they strangly have not had convicts there for quite some time.

Back to the topic at hand. I have used the salt treatment outlined in Daveedkas article on ich once with much sucess and no fish loss. I was going to try it in this tank, but was also concerned about the fry. Unfortunatly, when I PMd dave about this, he had not used this treatment in a tank with South American cichlid fry. I am more than happy for his honest answer that he did not know for sure what the outcome would be. (better than "UH I'm sure they'll be fine)I told him I would keep him posted as to what I was doing and my results. I fugured this information should be shared with the forum as opposed to one particularly helpful user, hence this post.

I am concerned with the effect of the salt on the fry as a whole, as well as with a rapid change in water chemistry. At current, I have added 1tsp/g of salt over a few hour period, using a syphon method, and uped the heater to 81*F. I plan on going up to 2tsp tommorow morning and another degree or two of heat. I am trying to do this slowly so as not to effect the babies. I am thinking mabey tomorrow afternoon or night I will reach the 3tsp/g level and 84*F. I have noticed no problems at current, but I will post as things develop.

In the interest of keeping this thread clean, I am open to comments, previous experience, and critisism(*ducks*). However, I would like to keep speculation out of it if at all possible, to better help those who will use this as a reference in the future.

Thank You

 

[sumthin fishy]

So, as I said, this morning I added another tsp/g. And turned up the temp to 83*f. I am thinking I will stay at 2tsp per gallon and try to up the heat as much as possible. I am thinking 3tsp/g might be a bit much on fry of a specie that does not do well in high TDS water.

Still no noticable effects on the fry. They have become more active, as is the norm at this time. More if/when it happens.

 

[sumthin fishy]

Todays update.
No apparent loss in fry. Tank temp is up to 85, salt is estimated at 2 tsp/g. All noticable ich has fallen from the rainbows, and no signs of any of it has come up on the other inhabitants. I'm thinking I cought it in time to not cause any major problems, but I know it's too early to celebrate. The babies are growing and becomeing more active. There has been suprisingly little aggression from the parrents, as they stay near the bottom and the other fish stay near the top. I have decided to get a devider today just to make sure I don't loose any fish. As before, I will update daily or if anything noteworthy comes up.

A lesson: use a q-tank, even with a new tank.

 

[sumthin fishy]

Well, I kinda slacked on my daily updates, but I have not had any ich on any of my fish. I think all will be ok. I have not moticed a decrease in fry count, and still all the other fish in the tank are alive. I will say this was a sucess. Of course there was not much scientifically done here(no controll group, no other treatments done), but as for experience, it has calmed my fears of using this treatment in a tank containing fry. I hope the lack of comments here does not mean no one has taken interest, and that if this question comes up in the future you may remember this and use it as reference to calm the fears of others why may have gotten themselves into the same predicament.

 

[kayla]

I hope the lack of comments here does not mean no one has taken interest, and that if this question comes up in the future you may remember this and use it as reference to calm the fears of others why may have gotten themselves into the same predicament.

Definately not.. I've been reading! This is good information to know. I always wondered if you could use the salt treatment with fry in the tank. I've never had any problems where I'd need to use it but it's good to know just in case! Thanks!!