please help

[jamesward76]

when treating ick with salt, how much salt should you use per gal of water

 

[unforgiven]

raise the temp about 80F and about 2-3 tablespoons of non-iodized salt per 5 gallons of water works best. (check your species salt tolerances first)

 

[Colin_BC]

Sorry, not to hijack the thread, but I couldn't bring myself to start a new one on ich with this one being so new and on the same topic. It's also a tough topic to search since search engine's generally won't allow 3 letter words.

QUESTION:
What sort of salt dosage per 10G (if any) would be recommended for a planted aquarium (mine is 30G)? I've already decided how I'm going to attempt to tackle this so far, but if I do have to go drastic I want to try to save my plants.

Ramble about my problem and hopeful solution (open for comments/criticisms
I've noticed by angelicus botia loach literally whipping itself occasionally against the substrate for a couple weeks, more frequently in the last few days. Up until yesterday I was never able to see any white dots on the loach or any other fish (the loach when not hiding is always hyperactive and never stays still). Today I got a really good look at the loach and it has at least 20 of these tiny white dots, or the adult phase of ich.
Tomorrow I'm going to buy a (hopeful) solution for the ich. I'm skeptical about medicating the whole tank since I've poured lots of time and money and time into my plants in the aquarium. So far the loach is the only fish that has any spots at all. I'm probably going to buy a 5-10G quarantine tank. I'm thinking of buying one of those larger (10G) cheap internal plastic box filters (air pump powered) and filling it mostly with gravel from my exsiting tank and topping it off with some sponge or foam, then filling the tank with water from the current tank and putting the loach in there and medicating idividually. I'll maintain a temp of 82-84 and do regular water changes and medicate accordingly for at least a week after the spots disappear from the fish and eventually transfer the loach back to the main tank. Once the loach is back in the main tank, I'm going to keep 1 male Endler and 2-3 female Endler's in the quarantine tank to maintain the cycle for if the tank is needed again.

Colin

 

[unforgiven]

I've never tried salt in a planted tank to afraid to. (I only actually use salt when I want to stop the infection NOW and can't get to the store 30 miles away!) For my planted tanks I use an Ich medicine containing malachite green, it's never hurt the plants, and stops the infection every time. I live in Mi...so dealing with Ich is a 4 time a year afair (every time the weather changes...it's just so drastic!) I've gotten very good at handling it...haven't lost 1 fish to those pesky protazoans in over 8 years

 

[Colin_BC]

Well, I took a trip to my great LFS yesterday, but the owner wasn't there (very rare). It's owned and run 7 days a week by one young guy (who's help teach me most of what I know) and an assistant to help 1-2 days a week. I told her my situation and picked up a 10G for a hospital tank. She also sold me some med's that I can't for the life of me remember, but said these ones can wipe out ich at any stage in its life and only needs to be used one pill per 10G daily for 4-5 days. I bought a dozen to be safe and keep some onhand. I go home and go to setup the 10G aquarium when I spotted a chip in the glass in the corner. Unfortunately this was the exact time the shop closed. I brought it back today and the owner swapped it no prob. I told him my situation and asked him a bit more about the med's and their effect on the plants. He recommended treating all the fish and plants I still forget the name he told me of them, but he said they have no copper, they shouldn't harm any of the plants (he knows how many I have cuz they're all from him). Whatever this med/pill is called, he said this one will 'nuke' ich in any of it's 3 stages of life, 4-5 days it's all gone, plants are fine.

Today is day 1. I've got to go see him (LFS) again on Saturday when he gets his plant order sheet, so I'll try to remeber to get the name from him and keep you all posted to it's results. My Angelicus Botia Loach is still the only fish to have visible signs of ich, but they will all be treated now. Updates to come...

Colin

 

[Colin_BC]

Today is day 3. The name of the med is "Clout." The angelicus botia loach still has a few spots of ich, but their are definately less now. This could either be from them falling off to go to the next stage or the clout is doing the job. The behaviour of the loach is much better now. It is now swimming normally as opposed to before when it was jerking all over the aquarium and rubbing against aything it could. Still no signs of ich on any other fish. I picked up another dozen pills of Clout.

Colin

 

[Colin_BC]

Well, after 4 days of using clout the ich was gone from the loach. I treated again on day 5 and stopped after that. It seems to be gone, although I'm still monitoring just in case. The clout didn't harm any of my plants, athlough it did turn my one decoration blue. An overnight soak in a mild bleach & water mix fixed this.

Colin

 

[Angel Lady]

If you want to rid your tank of ich all you have to do is raise the temp. add a little salt if you dont have scaless fish and do a water vac. the temp. need to be atleast 85 degrees it will kill the parasite and make sure you do the water vac also. There are one more thing do atleast a 15 percent water change daily. For a week or so.

 

[Idolz]

The package of aquarium salt should tell how much to add, mine says 1 tablespoon per 5 us gallons but it might not be the same for others. Be sure to take the type of fish you have into consideration. If you have cories, don't use salt , try turning up the temperature and frequent water changes.
Good luck