Success rate with treating ICH with heat and salt!

[soh15]

I have 2 palties with about 4 to 5 spots, I am sure it is ICH. I have slowly kicked the temp to 87F just to be sure it is above 86F. Going to start adding salt today, have to go get some. I was wondering what the success rate was with salt and heat? Guess I am kind of worried that it wont get the job done, seems to simple. Also I have a 30 gal tank, How much salt do I add over the next two days? Thanks for your help, this is a great site!!!

 

[TankGirl]

I have never had it fail, but quite honestly I have not had to treat it a whole bunch of times.

You will add one tablespoon of salt per 10 gals of water - dissolve the Aquarium salt in a container of tank water first, then pour that in. That is all. When doing water changes add salt ONLY for the amount of water you took out. If you top off from evaporatoin do not add more salt, since the salt stays in the tank, left behind by the water that evaporated, if that makes sense.

Have you read this article? http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=32

 

[soh15]

Yep, Have read that already but thanks. But was unsure about the amount of salt that needed to be added, so thanks again. Really just want to hear from someone that it really works. Just started up a system for the first time in 20 years, and I used to use some chemical that stained everything blue and didn't even work. So I have childhood hatred of ICH.

 

[TankGirl]

I think just about everyone here will agree with you- We all hate ich!! It is such a common ailment that almost everyone will deal with at some time or another.

However, I have found it is one of the few illnesses we will run across that can be almost certainly cured completely if handled early.

The thing about heat is that oxygen levels are lower at higher temps, so lowering the water level to create splashing or otherwise maintaining some surface disturbance will help with that. Salt helps, too, but it is something to keep in mind.

Another thing to remember is to keep this treatment going for at least a week or 10 days after you see the last ich spot. A common mistake is to abort the treatment too early, only to have it come back.

Best of luck, and keep us posted.

 

[Menagerie]

It works

 

[soh15]

Thanks again everyone. I have the temp set at 88F and put and extra airstone in the tank. Salting tonight. Feel bad for the little guys, but at least I feel better now, Thanks

 

[BeerBotia]

This treatment works . It's also not bad for stress level on the fish.

I've also used "Quick Cure" before with success, but you have to be very, VERY careful with scaleless fish and silverfish (i.e. Tetras)...I used 1/2 doses over more time, always. It does stain the silicone blue, so be prepared. There's also various reports of bad chemical effects on fish and fishkeeper. My thought is if you don't overdose the tank, and don't flavor your cocktails with it, it should be fine.

I'm much more a fan of "holistic" approachs! Hope the salt/temperature thingy works for ya!

GL.

 

[soh15]

Can I add all the salt mixture at one time or 1/2 today, 1/2 tomorrow?

 

[RoK]

Well I wouldn't add it all at one time. You can do 1/2 today, 1/2 tomorrow, or slowly add some of it every few hours or so.

 

[TankGirl]

Good question - so glad you mentioned it and I am sorry I did not say so. It should be gradual to acclimate the fish to the salinity. Two or three days is what most people do, as well as the methods suggested by RoK.

 

[Jchillin]

Let me just chime in for a minute It works! I had it once and the treatment worked like a charm. I have five survivors and I wouldn't use anything else!

Thanks again TG and Menagerie.

 

[soh15]

Temp is now 88F. It feels warm to the touch. Salt added, 3 tbls to 30gal tank. And airstone added, and 20% water change done. the # of spots has went down!! Fish seem to be moving alot, seem restless. One more question, when doing water changes I have been treating the water one gallon at a time as I am adding them. Should I treat each gallon, or treat for 30 gallons on each water change?

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Treat on a gallon basis.. you replace 10 gallons, you add enough for 10 gallons..

I've used mixed treatments on the only case of Ich I had, I used coppersafe and increased the temp to 84, this sped up the life cycle and eliminated it a bit faster (was gone in a week) then dropped the temp back down, and put carbon back in 1 week after the temp was down.. (added chemi-pure since, and copper levels are back down to 0..)

Heat does work, it will based on the temp that ich dies at, if it can't survive at 87f then 87f will kill it, the salt is just helping the fish stay alive while the ich dies.. this is no different then treating green water, you make the enviroment unsuitable (balck out), and it dies off.

 

[pisceanbliss]

I just treated my tank successfully using salt and heat. So far so good. They all survived. I caught it early before it spread too far.
Sure beats using 'chemicals'. The fish think so too.
Best of luck with your tank

 

[soh15]

As of today I see zero white spots at all on any fish. But I know I still need to keep temp up to 88F and keep the salt in there for another 7 days correct, Or should I go 14 days? I understand the ich is still there, just in another stage. Die, die, die, you little %$&*'s.

 

[partrep]

Yup, it works. I was al set to use medication and the more I looked at that bottle the more hesitant I became. I followed the heat and salt recommendations in the thread by Allivymar and it worked.

 

[Jchillin]

Wahhoooooo!

Another success story!