What is the recommended salt treatment for treating ich? It would seem that it has inflicted my poor cute kissing gourami. :-( I have a 46-gal with some corys, barbs, and blue gouramis. The "kisser" is the only one with visible white spots. I really don't want to lose him - he's my favorite! Is salt a surefire way to kill ich? Thanks!!
Salt treatment for curing ich?
- Thread starter girl920
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That is a good article on the treatment. It does work. And if done properly you should eliminate ich from your tank completely. (Unless you add it in with a new fish).
If you have catfish, set up a quarantine tank. Catfish do not like salt. Get the sick fish out, don't let the disease spread. They don't respond well to many ich treatments, as they are scale-less. I keep 1 teaspoon per 5 gallons as a general tonic in all my tanks except the one with Corys.
Water change with a gravel vac is a good way to keep ich away too.
Water change with a gravel vac is a good way to keep ich away too.
I read in another article that once ich breaks out, you have to treat the whole tank, as the parasite will lay eggs, etc. in the gravel or on rocks, etc. and has to be hatched/in the water before it can actually be killed (hence taking awhile to wipe out). Is this true?
I don't want to hurt my catfish of course, but I also don't want to treat the gourami alone only to have him get it again when I put him back in the community tank.
I don't want to hurt my catfish of course, but I also don't want to treat the gourami alone only to have him get it again when I put him back in the community tank.
I have treated a tank with corys, 2 tsp salt per gallon, for 3 weeks, and they were just fine, lively as ever. Long term constant use is where problems arise. girl920, you are correct that although the kisser is the only one with spots, your whole tank is already infected. You are also correct about the only time the ich can be killed, in its free-swimming stage. The good news is that once you eradicate the ich, it will be gone forever, unless you introduce it with new fish or plants, etc. from another infected tank - good reason for quarantining. There is no need to keep salt in a fresh water tank unless you are treating for a disease.
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Thanks, I'm glad to hear this, b/c just this morning I noticed that one of my littlest corys is starting to flash and dash around madly (more so than usual). So I fear maybe it is affecting him (altho' I can't really see spots). Also a few barbs are flashing too. I will proceed with caution when adding salt. I know to add it slowly. Thanks.
I'm not sure whether the caution regarding catfish and the salt treatment always applies. When I tried that treatment, my cories suffered terribly (and my tetras died). On the other hand, the bristlenose pleco and the otos seemed to be fine with it. It seems to depend on the species and the particular fish you have.
girl920 said:
Ich dont actualy 'lay' eggs. They are a protozoa that lives in three stages. When the ich is on a fish, it will encase it's self into a cyst which will then fall off the fish into the substrate. It is during this stage that medications do not affect them. They eventually break out of the cyst and become free swimming to find a host.
A good ich treatment takes about three weeks to eradicate all three stages of the protozoa using heat, salt, or a combination of both.