I'd guess the hardtospellandpronounce word may be the anti caking agent they add to table salt.
you can purchase NaCl in other forms and use that too many natural food places will sell clean salt.
Salt Treatment
- Thread starter sugarcookie
- Start date
I'd guess the hardtospellandpronounce word may be the anti caking agent they add to table salt.
you can purchase NaCl in other forms and use that too many natural food places will sell clean salt.
Went to Whole Foods. They have "bulk sea salt". Ingredients: Salt. $.69 per pound - I'm thinking that the API salt over at the box fish store isn't that cheap.
to make it easy on yourself - measure out enough salt for the whole tank dosage all at once. dissolve about 1/4 of it in a bucket of tank water, and add it to the tank. a few hours later, add another quarter. when i had ich trouble, i took 2 days to add the full dose, adding salt in the morning and in the evening. i only used 1 tsp/g though. with the temp you could go up to maybe 84, but watch your fish for problems. if they start to gasp either lower the temp again or reduce the water level so there is more surface agitation. sea salt contains a lot of other minerals in it, and is not just pure plain salt. i wouldn't use it.
maxthedog123:
Please do not do this one!
The url which you cited does indeed indicate that the target concentration is 2 tsp / gallon but IMHO if you do this one not only will you not have any active ich left but you will not have many fish left.
2 tsp / gallon = 10 tsp / 5 gallons = 3.3 tblspn / 5 gallons!
The maximum salt concentration which I have ever previously reviewed was 1 tblspn / 5 gallons.
Yes it is.
TR
jones57742
1-2 tsp per gallon is pretty standard. Not a worry. 3 tbsp per gallon is pretty low. Why would you assume that would kill fish? Have you actually tested the TDS to see the difference or are you just guessing?
1-2 tsp per gallon is pretty standard. Not a worry. 3 tbsp per gallon is pretty low. Why would you assume that would kill fish? Have you actually tested the TDS to see the difference or are you just guessing?
Never heard of a concentration that high until this thread.
No I have not.
I once instantaneously induced 1 Tblspn / 10 Gallons (0.3 Tspns/ Gallon) and my plecos (which I anticipated) reacted adversely but my sterbai (which I did not anticipate) reacted very adversely.
TR
I ended up dosing about 1.5 tsp/gal over about 2 days with a temp of 84. I bough the angels on Sunday and lost them both by Tuesday. I am guessing they had an issue when I purchased them.
I am planning on continuing with that salt and temp level for 10-14 days. So far I have only seen 1 ich spot on the bleeding heart tetras. I will reevaluate if/when I see changes in the tetras. They seem to be doing reasonably well with the temp. Kind of hiding as a group in only place though. They are eating pretty well. I may lower the water level an inch as suggested to create some splash.
I am hoping for the best on plants. (I have h. polysperma, red ludwigia, wisteria, and java fern.) This is another topic I've seen every possible opinion on the web from "anything over 0 salt will kill all plants" to saying the type of plants I have out to be able to make it through a treatment at 1 to 1.5 tsp/gal as long as salt levels are brought back down at that point.
I am planning on continuing with that salt and temp level for 10-14 days. So far I have only seen 1 ich spot on the bleeding heart tetras. I will reevaluate if/when I see changes in the tetras. They seem to be doing reasonably well with the temp. Kind of hiding as a group in only place though. They are eating pretty well. I may lower the water level an inch as suggested to create some splash.
I am hoping for the best on plants. (I have h. polysperma, red ludwigia, wisteria, and java fern.) This is another topic I've seen every possible opinion on the web from "anything over 0 salt will kill all plants" to saying the type of plants I have out to be able to make it through a treatment at 1 to 1.5 tsp/gal as long as salt levels are brought back down at that point.
Jones - there are a lot of links about salt treating ich, not only on boards like this but also on more scientific sites.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/FA006
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/VM007
Personally, I am trying this method because using something like Malachite Green is guaranteed to kill all of the plants and probably the biofilter as well.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/FA006
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/VM007
Personally, I am trying this method because using something like Malachite Green is guaranteed to kill all of the plants and probably the biofilter as well.
Somewhat of a pond slant, but mentions salt as one of the best treatments - just not cost effective for ponds:
http://aquanic.org/publicat/usda_rac/efs/srac/476fs.pdf
[[FONT=Palatino-Roman+2]One of the best treatments and preventives for Ich has been 2 to 3 parts per thousand (ppt) of salt indefinitely. (Note: I disagree with the indefinitely part.) This is usually a very effective treatment for tank and recirculation systems but is not cost effective for ponds. In one recent case, however, Ich was observed to tolerate 3 ppt salt, while in another case, Ich withstood 5 ppt.[/FONT]]
FYI, I just did all of the caculations to convert ppt to tsp/gal while trying to figure out how much salt to use, but I don't have them with me. You have to accept that 1ppt is about 1 gram/liter which has maybe a 1-2% error. This is OK for very small measuments like a couple of grams. One key is that you have to use density of salt (avg 1250 grams/liter) to go from grams which is a weight measurement to ounces, tbsp, or tsp which are volume measurements. If you trust my math, you get the following:
1ppt is ~1 tbsp/5 gal or ~.6 tsp/gal
2ppt is ~2 tbsp/5 gal or ~1.2 tsp/gal
3 ppt is ~3 tbsp/5 gal or ~1.8 tsp/gal
The amount of salt to treat ich also varies wildly on the web. I started reading because I didn't want to take anything at face value when the suggestions ranged from 1 tsp/5 gal to 3 tsp/gal. I've started at about 1.5 tsp/gal to be safe because I'm concerned about the tetras.
Does anyone else have thoughts on the correct dose?
http://aquanic.org/publicat/usda_rac/efs/srac/476fs.pdf
[[FONT=Palatino-Roman+2]One of the best treatments and preventives for Ich has been 2 to 3 parts per thousand (ppt) of salt indefinitely. (Note: I disagree with the indefinitely part.) This is usually a very effective treatment for tank and recirculation systems but is not cost effective for ponds. In one recent case, however, Ich was observed to tolerate 3 ppt salt, while in another case, Ich withstood 5 ppt.[/FONT]]
FYI, I just did all of the caculations to convert ppt to tsp/gal while trying to figure out how much salt to use, but I don't have them with me. You have to accept that 1ppt is about 1 gram/liter which has maybe a 1-2% error. This is OK for very small measuments like a couple of grams. One key is that you have to use density of salt (avg 1250 grams/liter) to go from grams which is a weight measurement to ounces, tbsp, or tsp which are volume measurements. If you trust my math, you get the following:
1ppt is ~1 tbsp/5 gal or ~.6 tsp/gal
2ppt is ~2 tbsp/5 gal or ~1.2 tsp/gal
3 ppt is ~3 tbsp/5 gal or ~1.8 tsp/gal
The amount of salt to treat ich also varies wildly on the web. I started reading because I didn't want to take anything at face value when the suggestions ranged from 1 tsp/5 gal to 3 tsp/gal. I've started at about 1.5 tsp/gal to be safe because I'm concerned about the tetras.
Does anyone else have thoughts on the correct dose?
while you are using the salt treatment, make sure to top off your tank with fresh (unsalted) water if you have a lot of evaporation. otherwise the salt concentration will rise.
