Is this ich? HELP!

[roydooms]

10 days I did.

How can you tell when you are done treating? Should I stop once the spots are gone? Or give it a few more days?

 

[Tim Wheatley]

I did a few more days.

I took a series of photos, check the dates on the photos:
Flickr: Search T Wheatley's photostream

I started treatment on the 3rd, did a 50% water change on the 12th to dilute the salt. Did another 50% a week later. So I treated for 11 days total, but kept 50% of the salt in the tank for another week.

 

[roydooms]

I did a few more days.

I took a series of photos, check the dates on the photos:
Flickr: Search T Wheatley's photostream

I started treatment on the 3rd, did a 50% water change on the 12th to dilute the salt. Did another 50% a week later. So I treated for 11 days total, but kept 50% of the salt in the tank for another week.

The whole time I see spots I'll keep it 1tsp salt per 2 gallons even after PWC? Thanks a lot Tim!

 

[Tim Wheatley]

I would topup salt if still within 10 days from starting the salt.

Any update?

 

[roydooms]

I would topup salt if still within 10 days from starting the salt.

Any update?

Hi Tim!

I did a 50%PWC last Friday and added salt to the water before adding it to the tank. White spots are almost gone. One of the discus passed. It has no sign of ich though. I'm thinking that it's may be the salt. I'm going to do a PWC again today and will still add salt. Only the one that passed looked stressed during the treatment. The rest are acting normal and looking healthy. Thanks for asking Today is the 7th day of treatment.

 

[Tim Wheatley]

Cool, I'm glad things seem to be going OK. Sorry for the loss. I guess like humans one can be weaker than another.

Watched a documentary last night about poisoning and it's amazing sometimes how when someone tries to murder someone with arsenic, etc, some people build up an immunity! While others die below the 'lethal dose'. Same with salt for fish I would think.

 

[roydooms]

I also think that it's the same with fish. I just noticed that 1 rummynose is missing. I hope it's just sleeping somewhere. Maybe it passed and got eaten. :sigh:

 

[Tim Wheatley]

You could reduce the salt a bit if you're getting concerned. Maybe a 15% water change and no replacement of the salt.

Of course it's risk versus reward...

 

[roydooms]

You could reduce the salt a bit if you're getting concerned. Maybe a 15% water change and no replacement of the salt.

Of course it's risk versus reward...

I'll do that. Thanks.

 

[roydooms]

I'm seeing new white spots... Do I need to add salt? Temp is 87F.

 

[Tim Wheatley]

Are you absolutely sure they're new? A couple of the fish I have had scarring from where the parasite exited. That's one of the reasons I took photos of mine so I could compare. It really shouldn't be possible for them to have the parasite with the proper dose of salt...

If you continue treatment I'm not really sure how such a long time in high salinity would affect your fish.

 

[roydooms]

It's been 10 days. What is the maximum day with salt in the water? I'm scheduled to do a 50% PWC tomorrow. Should i add salt? Required dose or half?

 

[Tim Wheatley]

I've never had salt in my fresh tanks of that amount for more than 11 days, and the spots have always gone away long before now... So you're entering a realm I haven't visited...

You could do a 50% and then add some salt back in... but at this point my spots are always gone and I don't normally add that salt back. I do keep that 50% of salty water in the tank for another week normally though...

 

[roydooms]

Hi Tim. I just saw some new spots this morning. I might try a different approach. New plant leaves looks clear and unhealthy. I'm thinking o using ich clear. What do you think?

 

[Tim Wheatley]

The only meds I've ever used are:
Rid Ich - Killed most of the sensitive fish in the tank before the Ich had even affected some of them. Lost 18 Neons. Dosed as directed on the bottle.
Esha Exit - Worked perfectly. No losses. Dosed as directed.

The problem with Esha Exit (which is why I now use salt) is that I had to get it imported from the UK.

Salt could be starting to kill your plants.

I'm pretty sad that the salt treatment didn't work for you for some reason...

 

[roydooms]

Do you think maybe because I didn't put enough salt? You said 1 tsp per 2g. Then I read somewhere 2tbsp(6tsp) per 10g. Which is 1 tsp short per gallon. Some says 2 tsps per gallon...

 

[Tim Wheatley]

I don't think so, no. There's not actually much difference between what you've said there and what I said (just 1 tsp in 10g).

1 flat teaspoon per gallon gives a salinity of about 1.005 and that's essentially brackish conditions. 1.002 should be more than enough to kill the parasites while they are in their free swimming stage.

The difference between 1 tsp per 2 gallon and 6 tsp per 10 is just 1 tsp over 10 gallons, that's not very much at all, infact it's probably easily within the boundary of measurement error of 1 per 2.

 

[TraceyB4602]

You can get medication if you dont want to add salt, but with the discus you will proabably need to cut the amount it says on the bottle in half. I used the API ich cure and it worked for me, no spots after 3 days. Your fish don't look to infected yet. So I would raise the temp as stated and get some meds.

 

[roydooms]

This is what I bought for ich. 1 drop per gallon. Do the same thing every 24 hours. I went to a great LFS and they usually know whyatthey are talking about. The lady told me that I can do it every 12hours. Is that too much? I only dosed 100drops n my 125g. Is that enough?

@Tim: that makes sense. I will still follow your advice if I decide to use salt to treat again. I will most likely use the salt treatment with my other tank with no discus. Thanks.

 

[Tim Wheatley]

Best of luck...