Icky ick - Can our inverts tolerate salt?

[Monzie]

We just lost a cory and now I'm noticing white spots on two of our rasboras, so it looks like our 27 gallon freshwater tank has a case of ick.

I'm turning up the heat to 89 degrees kill it off but I also read that adding a bit of salt to the tank might help. Before I head off the the store to buy some, I need some more info. I'm wondering whether it could harm our inverts. We have several nerites, which I assume will be fine since they live in brackish waters in nature. But we also have two mystery snails and a vampire shrimp. Will those guys tolerate the salty water? I could put them into our quarantine tank for a few weeks, I guess, but I'd rather avoid the hassle of setting that up just for a shrimp and two snails.

Anyone have any thoughts? Thanks!

 

[SushiRoll]

I'm almost 100% sure salt kills mystery snails.


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[BBradbury]

Treating Parasites

We just lost a cory and now I'm noticing white spots on two of our rasboras, so it looks like our 27 gallon freshwater tank has a case of ick.

I'm turning up the heat to 89 degrees kill it off but I also read that adding a bit of salt to the tank might help. Before I head off the the store to buy some, I need some more info. I'm wondering whether it could harm our inverts. We have several nerites, which I assume will be fine since they live in brackish waters in nature. But we also have two mystery snails and a vampire shrimp. Will those guys tolerate the salty water? I could put them into our quarantine tank for a few weeks, I guess, but I'd rather avoid the hassle of setting that up just for a shrimp and two snails.

Anyone have any thoughts? Thanks!

Hello Mon...

Extreme heat is effective, but you need to be careful. A water temp in the low 80s should be sufficient to retard the growth of the parasites, if this is what you have. Plants aren't very tolerant of high temps. A better approach is lots of clean, treated tap water and careful vacuuming of the bottom material. Start an aggressive water change routine and work up to the point you're changing half the tank water every day or two. Vacuum the bottom material. There will be parasites living there. A bit of salt will help, but keep the dose low. A couple of teaspoons for every 5 gallons of new, treated tap water is enough.

Keep the food to a minimum. Just a bit every 2 to 3 days. Sick fish aren't likely to eat much and you don't want uneaten food to foul the tank water. Add a filter that hangs on the back of the tank. Hagen has a good product, an AC 30 will help get more oxygen into the tank water. Warmer water doesn't hold onto oxygen as well as cooler water.

B

 

[ScotJudd]

BB is spot on. In the past I have raised temp gradually to 85f but not used salt or medication. Keep up good tank husbandry and ride it out. I dropped my water level which meant my filter outlet was above the water level, to increase aeration.
Since that outbreak I have quarantined everything before it goes into my main tank.


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[shellyx]

The heat will be fine for your inverts, I wouldn't use salt as it could kill your snail's. Good luck

55 gallon elephant nose tank.
16 gallon vampire shrimp and snails

 

[Monzie]

We have a canister filter and a sponge. I turned 'em both up, to aerate the water a bit, and I've been slowly increasing the water temp today. We're up to 78 now. The tank is usually at 74. I had heard the ick cooties don't reproduce once the water temp is around 86 degrees and their life cycle is only 3 or 4 days. So a week or two of warmer water supposedly kills off all the ick in the tank. Since I'm still unsure about the safety of the salt, I'll just do the heat and some more frequent water changes. Hopefully, we can nip this in the bud before we lose any more fish.

Thanks everyone!