Panda corys and aquarium salt?

[_skyla_]

So ive been Trying to win this battle with ich ATM and haven't had much luck with multicure and frequent water changes. I was wanting to try aquarium salt and raising the temp but I have panda corys ,plecos and shrimp I'm concerned about, can i use it without harming them? the temp sits on 25degrees usually ,should I raise it to 27degrees?

 

[librarygirl]

Corys tend to not like salt (some have been successful using half-doses with Corys but I have them too and I wouldn't try it); not sure about the shrimp but they are pretty sensitive. You can just use heat to treat Ich; you might want to try that instead. You want to raise the temp to 30 C/86 F. Raise it slowly, one degree every 12 hours or so. This will increase the life cycle of the parasite. With temps higher though it will decrease oxygen in the tank so make sure either the water level is lowered so the filter splashes water into the tank or get an air stone and keep it turned up. Do daily water changes with gravel vacuums; this will suck up the parasite as it falls from the fish and into the substrate. Treatment can take 2 weeks or so. Keep temps increased for 7-10 days after the last signs of Ich are gone then you can start lowering temp slowly.

 

[BBradbury]

Corydoras and Aquarium Salt

So ive been Trying to win this battle with ich ATM and haven't had much luck with multicure and frequent water changes. I was wanting to try aquarium salt and raising the temp but I have panda corys ,plecos and shrimp I'm concerned about, can i use it without harming them? the temp sits on 25degrees usually ,should I raise it to 27degrees?

Hello sky...

I've used a teaspoon of standard aquarium salt in every 5 gallons of my water change water for years and my Corydoras are fine. You can also use Kosher salt and commercial canning salt, but not table salt.

I keep large, planted tanks and some tanks have several species of Corys in them, including the smaller Pandas and Orange Saddles. The fish have lived in the slightly brackish water for a long time and I've noticed no health problems.

I would recommend keeping the dose low to see how your fish do. You can certainly raise the tank temp. 80 degrees should be enough and increase the aeration in the water. You can add a small HOB to increase the oxygen to the water.

Large water changes a couple of times a week and carefully vacuuming the substrate will help.

Just a couple of thoughts.

B

 

[Cichlid Kid]

I agree with librarygirl. Play it safe with pandas. I just used heat as she described and didn't lose a single fish out of 13 pandas.

 

[_skyla_]

Thankyou so much everyone for your advice I appreciate it all I've raised the temp by 2degrees and will do another water change today, I just did a 50% water change 2 days ago. I'll raise the temp again tomorrow which should bring it up to 30degrees. Im thinking of trying a tiny bit of aquarium salt after a week of doing the heat and pwc every 2nd day. Less than half the recommended dose if I don't notice any change.

 

[BBradbury]

Hello again sky...

It's wise to keep the salt doses small. Aquarium salt has been used for decades as a standard "tonic" for aquarium fish. It has many benefits. A couple of things occurred to me. If your fish have been infected with a parasite, then they won't be hungry. So, I wouldn't feed them. You don't want uneaten food to cause water chemistry problems. If you feed anything, feed just a little minced garlic. I feed it sometimes. It's high in vitamins and is a natural antibiotic.

Keep the lights off in the tank and in the room too. Parasites generally locate a host by sight. Vacuum the substrate well. There will be parasites living there.

B

 

[_skyla_]

Hello again sky...

It's wise to keep the salt doses small. Aquarium salt has been used for decades as a standard "tonic" for aquarium fish. It has many benefits. A couple of things occurred to me. If your fish have been infected with a parasite, then they won't be hungry. So, I wouldn't feed them. You don't want uneaten food to cause water chemistry problems. If you feed anything, feed just a little minced garlic. I feed it sometimes. It's high in vitamins and is a natural antibiotic.

Keep the lights off in the tank and in the room too. Parasites generally locate a host by sight. Vacuum the substrate well. There will be parasites living there.

B

Hmmm they still eat like little piggies. I'm doing another pwc tomorrow. How much salt should I add to the 50litre (12.5g) And the 70litre (17.5g) with the corys and shrimp in mind? I'll do a gravel vac with the water change aswell. I've upped the temp to 27degrees and tomorrow I'll raise a little again.

 

[BBradbury]

Using Aquarium Salt

Hello...

I use a standard teaspoon in every 5 gallons of new, treated water. You'll likely know the conversion to metric. If you have plants in this tank, then I would keep the water temp a bit on the low side. Aquarium plants don't tolerate high water temps. Most fish pathogens can't stand even a trace of salt in the water, so I would rely on it more so than the temp.

Parasites live in all our tanks. They're just dormant waiting for a mistake in tank management that will weaken the fishes' immune system.

I would recommend reducing the amount you feed. Sick fish will lose their appetite.

Just a couple of thoughts.

B

 

[_skyla_]

Ok thank you i will try the salt and leave the temp where it is

 

[_skyla_]

Ok thank you i will try the salt and leave the temp where it is

Oh and will my shrimp be ok with that amount aswell?

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Just skip the salt altogether.
The high heat is enough to eradicate it.

To treat ich:
Slowly increase temp to 86-88F
Increase aeration
Increase number of gravel vacs and water changes
Leave temp up for at least one week after last spot is seen
Slowly reduce temp
No salt is needed.

 

[Tobyshark]

I'm having an ich breakout and I've come to this forum to try to figure out what to do. I'm horribly confused now about what to do. Some of you say high heat and salt, some say heat and no salt some say salt only.... Which is it? I have a fully planted dirt tank and I don't want to go crazy with the vac.. What do I do??? Plz help! I've had the penguin 350's running with the same filter so I assume the carbon is inactive, should I try kordon organic meds because I have shrimp?

 

[DavidAl]

Please, please, please...allow me to further add to the confusion!

Panda cories will not do well with elevated heat. Salt will not bother them, but the heat will. That has been my experience with keeping pandas. They will stand temps up to 82, but warmer than that and the may go kaput with little warning. I think pandas are one of the more sensitive species of Corydoras, without a doubt. Of course, there are many variables to consider, but please keep this in mind as you go forth.

David

 

[Tobyshark]

I have pandas, but man I'm totally confused about what the right thing is to do..