What is the highest temp I can safely raise my (mostly) African Cichlid tank to?

[xsamrlx17]

I need to raise the temperature due to one of the fish having Ick. Mostly African and one SA which is the one who is showing the Ick. Right now I'm going to raise it from 78F to 80F, how high can I safely gradually raise it to? I've decided to just raise the temp instead of medicating the whole aquarium (55G). Also the tank does have a long air stone on one side, will I need to add more?

 

[jcolon]

To my knowledge, you treat ick on cichlids like other fish in this hobby.
Raise temp to 86F - 88F over the next 12hrs. Airstone, Daily PWC's and gravel vacs are a must. Keeping clean water and substrate goes a long way to treating ick.

Keep the temp up even a week after the last sigh of Ick.... Then you lower to your Normal tank temp over 12hrs.

Rest assured if this advice on treating ick on cichlids is off, plenty of members will chime in. Good Luck!

 

[HUKIT]

Raise temp to 86F - 88F over the next 12hrs. Airstone, Daily PWC's and gravel vacs are a must. Keeping clean water and substrate goes a long way to treating ick.

Keep the temp up even a week after the last sigh of Ick.... Then you lower to your Normal tank temp over 12hrs!

J is spot on with his advice, the fish will be fine at temps of 86F for a couple of weeks.

 

[xsamrlx17]

I just directly added around 7 tablespoons of aquarium salt and then realized by reading something that I shouldn't have. Does anyone know whether 7 tablespoons aquarium salt directly added to about 50g water at once will be harmful?

 

[Jacobsal91]

I just directly added around 7 tablespoons of aquarium salt and then realized by reading something that I shouldn't have. Does anyone know whether 7 tablespoons aquarium salt directly added to about 50g water at once will be harmful?

That isnt harmful at all no worries

 

[Sa1nt]

I don't think it's harmful.
I just finished treating ick on my African tank. The whole tank was infested quite badly.
I raised the temp and put in about 35 tablespoon of salt (over 48hrs) and the ick was visibly gone in like 3 days. Its a 55g.
Didn't lose a fish but will still keep up the high temp for about a week.
The only thing unhappy are my plants

Good luck with yours.

 

[xsamrlx17]

Good to know you got it cleared up that way, thanks

 

[Andy Sager]

I need to raise the temperature due to one of the fish having Ick. Mostly African and one SA which is the one who is showing the Ick. Right now I'm going to raise it from 78F to 80F, how high can I safely gradually raise it to? I've decided to just raise the temp instead of medicating the whole aquarium (55G). Also the tank does have a long air stone on one side, will I need to add more?

To save a long post as to the misconceptions vs. correct way to treat your tank, please read the article in this link Understanding and Treating Ich or White Spot so you can get a better understanding of what the optional treatments are as well as just using heat. It best describes the life cycle of the disease and what happens to each phase of the parasite while under treatment.
Also, keep in mind when raising the temp that as you warm the water you decrease the dissolved oxygen so be prepared to increase your aeration as you raise the temp

Good luck