Ich~salt or meds?

[krazymom]

I read the article about this and am confused which way to go. Any ideas on the subject with regards to my particular fish would be appreciated. This is my first ich experience and I need some guidance. I did purchase a heater today and mardel coppersafe. I first noticed spots on my loaches this am. I think the tetras have it too and my pleco does.

I guess my first three sacrafices (catfish put into a nice clean tank after 2 days cycle )did contain the ich.

 

[Guest]

UV and heat is my choice.

 

[QTOFFER]

I don't like ich meds because they are so toxic, and because ich is so easy to eradicate without them. I crank up the heat to 88oF and leave it there for three weeks. Works like a charm. Some people also add salt for effect, but be advised that FW plants and scaleless fish like plecos don't tolerate salt very well.

UV and heat is my choice.

Interesting. My guess is that UV, like other remedies, would be effective only on the freeswimming form of the parasite - so it too would require a three week duration. Do you run the UV all the time as a preventative measure, just when you're quarrantining, or just when you have an outbreak of something like ich? Does it clear up the ich faster than heat alone? I've been thinking of getting a UV unit for my quarrantine/hospital tank.

 

[Guest]

Yeah, you need either a strong UV or to turn down your gph to the UV because paracites take the longest time for the UV to fry (most dwell time). If I had a ich breakout I would increase the temp to speed up the ich lifecycle and slow down my gph on my filter to 65 gph, the effective rate on my UV that it takes out paracites. I run the UV nonstop though currently at full gph for my 304 (about 340 gph) and I have never had a single disease outbreak, even without a QT.

 

[krazymom]

Sounds like a good idea^

Well I followed the ich article advice and am only putting half the meds for 2x the time. I put 7 teaspoons in my tank after removing the carbon and doing a pcw. Sound ok?? The regular dose is 1 tsp per 4 gallons. I'm still cycling so wish me luck. Any advice on this is appreciated. My heater is set to 82/83 right now (still heating my tank which was 81 to start with). I want to turn it up slowly but not sure if my fish will survive the heat? Can I do the above 86 degrees thing with these fish?

 

[Apocalypse_Gold]

They will do better with heat than with ich. Skip the meds entirely. The heat will kill it and it won't be back (until you inevitably bring it in again from the pet store )

 

[krazymom]

Too late I already put in the 7 teaspoons. This ok you think? Should I put the carbon back in or just not add any more?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I don't think that carbon removed salt. It just gets removed through pwc. I used the heat/salt treatment in my 29 gal tank and my pleco didn't have any ill effects from it. I'm not sure on the loaches though.

 

[krazymom]

I added coppersafe, not salt. Someone told me scaleless fish do not do well with salt. I don't think the coppersafe is good for them either though. STUPID ICH!!!!

 

[QTOFFER]

I don't think that Coppersafe is any more harmful to scaleless fish than other kinds of fish. It is extremely toxic to invertebrates. A couple of big water changes will quickly reduce the amount of Coppersafe in your tank, and will also do a world of good for the fish. Good luck killing the ich - the heat treatment will work, really.

 

[Zezmo]

Heat alone is very effective for Ich. Raise the temp above 86deg F (I have used 90deg F myself) and keep it there for at least 10 days. You will feel the heat radiating off your tank. Then it is very important when you are done, to very slowly lower the tank temp to normal.

 

[dogspot]

In the past, I cranked up the temp to 88, added salt, and meds. I used about half the dosage of the meds... Most scaleless fish can't handle the meds... Hence, my pleco died that night. Correct me if I am wrong, but plecos can handle salt, it's the Ich meds that they can't handle. And with regards to the carbon, it has no effect on the salt... It removes the meds. Hence, if you add meds with carbon in the filter, it counteracts the meds.

The absolute best remedy is raising the temp to 88. I am on the fence with regards to meds, remove any plecos if you resort to this... I am a proponent of salt as it will help the affected fish get through the infected period. The only way the salt content will go down is with PWC's over time.

 

[krazymom]

I bought a Neptune 300 and the thermastat is not quite right. I put it at 82/83 and was going to turn it up slowly but this am my other thermometer says the tank is at 86 and now it almost 88 and I haven't adjusted the 82/83 degrees yet. I'm keeping a close eye on it to see if it has stopped raising yet.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

You may have a faulty heater. Keep watching the temp.