curing ich with salt

[xxwolfpackof1xx]

whats the salt do exactly

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[WendiDell]

are my fish and plants going to be safe with salt

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I really don't know anything about plants other that most don't like salt water. I don't have any real plants in my tanks because I can't keep weeds alive in dirt, let alone a plant in water.
There are posts about plants here on AA, but if I were to guess I'd say no salt with plants.
And with fish the scaleless fish won't tolerate the salt. But there are a lot of fish that can't take the meds either.
It should say on the bottle of medication, which fish are safe and which ones aren't.
I'm sorry I wish I could be more help.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

whats the salt do exactly

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Good question, I hope you get an answer .

I know my petco dude tells me to use it, but he also pushes strips over the API test kit too lol .

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[mfdrookie516]

I've heard two things said about it. Not sure which, if either, is correct. I've not actually read any scientific data on it. Take this with a grain of salt (lol, had to say that).

The first is that the salt itself kills ich. I don't think this is the case. If it killed it, why wouldn't the initial dose kill it?

The second is that the heat is what kills the ich. The salt just helps with gill function and osmotic pressure. This is more feasable IMO. I'll almost bet that jsoong has some kind of scientific reaseach saved somewhere that tells the real truth though.

 

[xxwolfpackof1xx]

lol we shuld get jsoong on here

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[DA fisherman]

Aquarium salt DOES NOT KILL ICH!

It does help the fish with better gill function......there are lots of meds that are good (super ich) made by ati. But I would be careful with any meds in your aquarium.
First sign of ICH I would:
1-Rise the temp of the water to at lest 84-86. That helps speed up the life cycle of the parasite.
2-Take out the carbon from your filter. So when you add Meds the carbon won't ki the effect of the meds.

3- add some meds I love super ich . It kills the parasite while in it's egg stage in your gravel.

And do water changes every 2 days And repeat the process till it's gone.
I've had ich on several occasion with my Oscar tank,green terror tank, and never lost a fish.
My news 10g fish tank just went thru some ich I didn't use no meds to see if I could do it with out and so far so good ,

 

[Mr. Limpet]

lol we shuld get jsoong on here

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PM him, he was very helpful when I did. He's also the best person to reference when it comes to this kind of stuff IMHO.

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[jsoong]

Plants will NOT be OK with salt at the levels needed to treat ich (0.3%). Your options are:
1. Heat alone (86-88F till 1 week after all spots of ich are gone)
2. Use an ich med (Quick cure is reputed to be best)
3. Remove the fish to a hospital tank & treat with salt.

 

[jsoong]

The first is that the salt itself kills ich. I don't think this is the case. If it killed it, why wouldn't the initial dose kill it?

Salt do kill ich (by an osmotic stress on the parasite). However, ich has 3 stages to its life-cycle. The trophant (the cysts or spots on the fish) and the tomont (encapsulated stage in gravel) are NOT susceptible to salt (or other meds or heat for that matter). Only the free swimming theronts can be killed. (My previous posts I called them tomites ... I think that is a mistake per article below ... have to go search & retype the correct name....)

Ichthyophthirius multifiliis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is the reason that initial doses of salt or meds don't kill ich, you have to treat till the ich cysts fall off the fish & hatch into the susceptible theronts before they can be killed.

Raising temp increases the speed of the hatching, so shorten treatment time. However, at temp of 88F +, heat alone will kill the theronts.

 

[xxwolfpackof1xx]

will my plants be ok w/o heater

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[jsoong]

What plants & how cold will it get without a heater? I think most plants will survive at room temp for a while.

 

[Zagz]

@zagz read post above yours its my currnt stockk list i also have a 4" airstone tht runs 24/7

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Ok, was writing at the same time as you were. I`ve been on sync with quite a few people today.

I agree most plants will be fine with room temps for a couple of days.

I recently had ich in a QT tank (new fish) and treated it with heat alone.

 

[mfdrookie516]

Salt do kill ich (by an osmotic stress on the parasite). However, ich has 3 stages to its life-cycle. The trophant (the cysts or spots on the fish) and the tomont (encapsulated stage in gravel) are NOT susceptible to salt (or other meds or heat for that matter). Only the free swimming theronts can be killed. (My previous posts I called them tomites ... I think that is a mistake per article below ... have to go search & retype the correct name....)

Ichthyophthirius multifiliis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is the reason that initial doses of salt or meds don't kill ich, you have to treat till the ich cysts fall off the fish & hatch into the susceptible theronts before they can be killed.

Raising temp increases the speed of the hatching, so shorten treatment time. However, at temp of 88F +, heat alone will kill the theronts.

Ok, that makes sense. There's just so much conflicting bad info on the web, it's hard to make heads or tails of what is correct. Thanks for the link, it's now saved in my favorites

As to the plants, what is the issue with salt? I've seen tons of brackish planted tanks, and my understanding of aquarium salt is that it does not have the same properties as marine salt. What am I missing there?

 

[xxwolfpackof1xx]

What plants & how cold will it get without a heater? I think most plants will survive at room temp for a while.

anacharis mmarimo ball and anubias room temp 65-70

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[Mr. Limpet]

anacharis mmarimo ball and anubias room temp 65-70

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The only thing I debated in removing a fish to QT, then putting him back is doesn't the ick still inhabit the tank? That's why I used QC, wiped out the ick and I didn't have to worry about killing all my plants or ick still being in there.

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[xxwolfpackof1xx]

im treating the whole tank seeing as its the whole tankk not just a fish

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[Mr. Limpet]

im treating the whole tank seeing as its the whole tankk not just a fish

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That's what I felt to be the best idea. Of course I think my last bout of ick was from a plant I put in without QT. Now I QT plants like new fish.

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[xxwolfpackof1xx]

i cant afford to keep a tank runnin just to qt though

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[jsoong]

The only thing I debated in removing a fish to QT, then putting him back is doesn't the ick still inhabit the tank? That's why I used QC, wiped out the ick and I didn't have to worry about killing all my plants or ick still being in there.

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Another feature of the theront is that they can only survive for a short time free swimming. They die within 24-48 hrs if they cannot find a fish host. Therefore, you don't need to treat the main tank if you remove all the fish to hospital. You just need to let it sit empty of fish for a couple weeks to kill off all ich. <The tomotes in the gravel can survive alone, you have to leave enough time for them all to hatch. It is a good idea to raise the temp in the tank to 70 or 80 to make sure all tomotes are hatched within a week or so, and give an extra week for all the theronts to die off.>

Same reasoning goes for QTing plants. Leave them in a tank free of fish for 2 weeks (at a reasonable temp) and most fish diseases are gone.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Another feature of the theront is that they can only survive for a short time free swimming. They die within 24-48 hrs if they cannot find a fish host. Therefore, you don't need to treat the main tank if you remove all the fish to hospital. You just need to let it sit empty of fish for a couple weeks to kill off all ich. <The tomotes in the gravel can survive alone, you have to leave enough time for them all to hatch. It is a good idea to raise the temp in the tank to 70 or 80 to make sure all tomotes are hatched within a week or so, and give an extra week for all the theronts to die off.>

Same reasoning goes for QTing plants. Leave them in a tank free of fish for 2 weeks (at a reasonable temp) and most fish diseases are gone.

So I'm not out in left field when I say that the unQT'd plants could've intrduced ick into my tank?

Seemed kinda nutty to me at first, but it was the only thing I had put in new to my DT.

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