One proven way to treat ich/ick

[FishKing5]

I meant neutralises the effect the nitrites have on fish.

No offense taken. I didn't go overkill on the aquarium salt treatment and have done some water changes since then and never noticed any difference in the fishes behaviors so I think they're still plenty healthy and happy. I'm going to just do daily water changes or bi daily at least and keep up with vacuuming the sand and just increase the temp up to 86 to 87 just in case there isn't anything unwanted in the tank and hopefully get most of it out with vacuuming and water changes. The tank was fully cycled before the fish were added to the tank. I've never had issues with fish scratching in a newly cycled tank so I'll just keep up with water changes and higher temperatures for the next two weeks and see how everything goes.

 

[FishKing5]

Guppy has given excellent advice; a salt treatment works wonders in combating Ick.

It is my intent to add clarity and strengthen some of the points already made by Guppy. I get many phone calls on fish health issues and no mater how I explain the treatment some people, especially those new to the hobby, take shortcuts; for example they just dump in some table salt and hope for the best. As mentioned it is important to raise the temperature to 85 - 86 degrees to speed up the parasite's life cycle. If you do not already have an air stone bubbling in the infected aquarium it is advisable to add one as the dissolved oxygen level drops significantly when the temperature is raised and yes the fish can suffocate from lack of oxygen.

Unfortunately many plants do not do well with this salt treatment and may appear to be failing but will usually come back in time. Removing them to a salt free environment after a thorough rinsing may save them; however they must be kept at the high temperature as well. When the Ick capsule breaks up in the plant holding tank the small parasites will be unable to find a host and will die within 24 - 48 hours. Ick is easily transferred to other fish tanks so do not share nets, heaters and wet hands between infected and non infected tanks. Fish in treatment appear to do better with a reduced feeding regiment.

When you look into the pet shop / fish store aquarium their fish may appear healthy without any signs of disease. Ask how long the fish have been in the store and when the last time new fish were added to that tank. If it has been 2 weeks or more your chances of getting disease free fish improve.

Impressive looking Clown Loaches and young Oscars are notorious for getting Ick after they are home in your tank. These and many others can tolerate salt. If you are unsure about your fish’s tolerance for salt look for answers in a reference book or ask an expert.

A salt test kit, available at your local fish store, will help you get the exact dosage. Something in the range of .2%, is where you want to be. For large aquariums that works out to about 2 pounds or slightly more than 2 cups of salt per 100 gallons. The salt I use is "Evaporated Sea Salt" available at Home Depot in 50 pound bags. Do not use salt with iodine added or water softener salt with "YPS" or any other chemicals added.

So if my math is right that would be almost 4 cups of salt for a 90 gallon tank if you're doing 2 teaspoons per gallon

 

[lebroc]

I am pretty new to this and have just got 5 platys and two danios at the moment, we were given them, and they are only in a 20L tank, which I am pretty sure is too small for them, I have worked like crazy over the last three weeks to keep the water safe, and I am just about managing it, until I could afford a new tank to put them in. one of the platys has ich, i cant turn up the heater as it automatically turns off at 25 degrees. I have put salt in the tank, and the platys seems happier to be honest, but the danios i am not so sure about. I just bought a bigger tank to put them in, 200L ...but one ..I dont know if I should move them until they are cured...and two can you tell me if the danios cant take the salt? Would it be better to move them where there is a better water quality, and a heater i can regulate, so less likely to have problems from that point of view?

 

[DarylMac]

Question: do you treat based on the volume of the aquarium, or do you account for displacement of substrate & decor?

I have a 135g aquarium. I know it has 100 lbs of pool filter sand and 200 lbs of rock. I also have some driftwood.

At 2 teaspoon/gallon I'm probably going to need 90 tablespoons or 5.6 cups of salt if I treat the volume if the tank.

Sound right?

 

[lebroc]

Just a quick update, we have not any new spots on the fish for several days, and the fish are all doing well, how long shall i leave the salt in the tank now?

Thank you so much everyone for your help. We never would have got this far without it!!!

 

[d3adlydesignz]

I have both a Royal Pleco and a Bristle nose Pleco. Is this treatment safe with them in the tank? Or would I need to remove them and treat them differently?

 

[Suga]

I have both a Royal Pleco and a Bristle nose Pleco. Is this treatment safe with them in the tank? Or would I need to remove them and treat them differently?

My two placos are okay w salt treatment. I used 1 tb spoon per 5 gallon. Ick disappears from my oscars and other cichlids 8 days now. But maybe others can chime in...

 

[lebroc]

Hi, I am writing on here, because i cant find the bit i need to start a new thread, I had a platy fish that died a week ago, no visible sign of illness, but spent the last few hours at the bottom of the tank, looking like she was struggling to breathe, or swim. and sort of Shimmying....i asked advice all over the place, and was told it was most likely gill flukes? the next day another one of my platys had a white patch on her tail, so it looked likely to me (being a novice) that it could be flukes of some kind. I bought sterazin after getting advice from swell. co.uk and started to treat the tank (at just over half the normal dose as we have one baby) The white patch on the platy seems to be going now, and all the other fish except one seems ok, including one fry of a few weeks old..We have a pearly danio who has been hiding away on his own, and seems to be struggling to swim, he has been like this now for two days, I have been treating with the sterazin at recommended days for 6 days now.
I do not have a master kit, but my ammonia levels are on 0 and I am presuming as the fry is fine, and seems to be growing like a weed, that it is not the water that is causing the problem, I added a bit of prime just in case...does anyone have any ideas what could be causing this? The danio seems to be headed the same way as the poor platy that died, and I am desperately worried the others could follow suit unless I can find the cause??

 

[lebroc]

Hi, I am writing on here, because i cant find the bit i need to start a new thread, I had a platy fish that died a week ago, no visible sign of illness, but spent the last few hours at the bottom of the tank, looking like she was struggling to breathe, or swim. and sort of Shimmying....i asked advice all over the place, and was told it was most likely gill flukes? the next day another one of my platys had a white patch on her tail, so it looked likely to me (being a novice) that it could be flukes of some kind. I bought sterazin after getting advice from swell. co.uk and started to treat the tank (at just over half the normal dose as we have one baby) The white patch on the platy seems to be going now, and all the other fish except one seems ok, including one fry of a few weeks old..We have a pearly danio who has been hiding away on his own, and seems to be struggling to swim, he has been like this now for two days, I have been treating with the sterazin at recommended days for 6 days now.
I do not have a master kit, but my ammonia levels are on 0 and I am presuming as the fry is fine, and seems to be growing like a weed, that it is not the water that is causing the problem, I added a bit of prime just in case...does anyone have any ideas what could be causing this? The danio seems to be headed the same way as the poor platy that died, and I am desperately worried the others could follow suit unless I can find the cause??

I should have added that we have a 200l tank, with 17 small fish in it, 7 platys 4 danios, 2 guppies, 3 endlers and a minnow. External filter which seems to be running ok, and temp is set at 25 degrees.

 

[Drstrangelove]

I would start a new thread. IMO you'll get much better results. Look for the POST NEW THREAD button at the bottom of the forum.

Hi, I am writing on here, because i cant find the bit i need to start a new thread