Stubborn ich? Or something else?

[lillibirdy]

I treated my 45g tank with salt, for ich, 1 tsp per g. at first, 12 hrs later another 1 tsp per g., then again 12 hrs later. It has been 5 days and everyones ich is gone, and they look great...} except the bala sharks. He looks waaaay better, but does still have some spots that don't seem to be changing? I have read a lot online about salt treatment, and seems like it should be completely gone by now... Please tell me I haven't found some resistent strain.

Thanks,
Kathy

 

[Blue Lobster]

My Balas have it now too.


The salt treatment which I am also doing will take 7-15 days depending on your temperature. .

One of the many articles I found on salt and temperature.
http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ich.php


What temp is the water, ICH cycles at different rates for different temps.

Right now I am on day 2 so I suspect to wait for a while.

I am also trying the 87 degrees thing at the same time. It was reported that most ich cannot live at 86 degrees or higher.

We shall see, if all else fails and the fish start flashing alot and rubbing alot I will medicate.

 

[lillibirdy]

I had the temp at 84 along with the 3 tsp per gallon of salt. And supposedly at that temp should speed up the the usual 5 day life cycle. he still has them on him at the trophont stage, where spots show... I see them in the same pattern on his head, they should at the very least be in a different stage by now....I am stressing I got the rare resistant strain talked about in that article!
KathyW

 

[gaya]

From what I understand the temp should be at 86F if your fish can handle it. I had a bout of ick a few months ago and I did the following:

raised temp to 86F for two weeks
covered the tank with a towel so no light got in (apparently ick needs light) for 2 weeks
I started with a salt treatment for a few days, didn't seem to help
added some ick med didn't seem to help
finally added colloidal silver, did the trick!!!
I also did water changes almost every day.

I don't know what extactly of the above got rid of the ick but it went away and I haven't seen signs since.
hth

 

[lillibirdy]

The 86 temp is if you are trying to fight the ich with temp only. If you are using salt, then a bit of a raised temp is simply to speed up the life cycle of the parasites. I forgot to say I also turned off lights and covered with a blanket and fed lightly for 3 days, might turn back off today and see if it helps bala shed the remaining spots.... Bala was the only one who seemed stressed during this process, and so I didn't raise temp any more than 84...
KathyW

 

[gaya]

Here is the link wuv gave me when I had my problem.

http/www.familyhealthnews.com/49.html
good luck!

 

[lillibirdy]

OK wierd, wierd.....left the house, and came back three hours later and NOT ONE spot on bala.......YAAAAAAAAY.

gaya, that link didn't have anything about fish on it?

KathyW