First time Ich

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dtholden

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jan 13, 2012
Messages
28
Location
Los Angeles
Read over every possible way to treat ick, raise temperature, natural sea salt, coppersafe, all other meds, I've got coppersafe in one tank, salt in the other, figured i'd have to develop my own opinions since the aquatic world is 50/50 on seemingly everything. My Black Moor is quarantined and was looking better, he's in the coppersafe tank, now he looks like more white spots are on him, I don't know if he'll survive the next round. The other tank has my two other golds, both with ick, this tank has sea salt, they are fine, going through what seems to be their first round of eggs, still active, obviously not to active but still. This is all just really discouraging. I'm dedicating exorbitant amounts of time to make sure I'm doing the right things and it just seems to get worse. Hope they pull through.
:/
 
Good luck!!! I really hope they pull through! Keep us posted & please dont hesitate to ask questions!
 
Many Thanks

You've all been great. I think the only question currently is this. I know to much sea salt and to much copper, both, can be bad for freshwater fish. I was wondering if in the coppersafe aquarium adding a very very low dose of sea salt would at least help with the moors slimecoat. I don't know what copper does to fish in terms of hurting them, but it looks like he's dry (odd considering he's in water) but dry none the less. I was just curious if a low low dose of salt would help balance that.

Appreciate any advice.

As always you guys are great!
 
One thing you may want to double check on first is the sea salt you are using- many brands incorporate anti-caking agents into their products. A low dose of salt for your guy in addition to the copper sulfate should be fine. Copper sulfate is used in marine (sw) applications for ich treatment as well. I would keep the dose low (1 flat tablespoon per 10gal) & dissolve it in some tank water & add it gradually over the course 48hrs. This will give your guy a chance to adjust. Im going to try to post a link for fw parasites/copper sulfate/treatments that may help you gain some insight:
CIR716/FA041: Introduction to Freshwater Fish Parasites
 
Also a note for anyone else. Maybe you all knew how to do this but I just discovered a genius way to add salt without having to mix it in tank water first. Pour the Salt into one of your aquarium nets, small mesh advisably. and submerge it and just let it sit. You can actually visibly see the dissolving salt move through the mesh. Seems like a safe, gradual way to do it. It even balances right on the top so you just sit back and watch!
 
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