Freshwater Fish and salt

[Oscarr19]

I think my keyhole has ich. The spots seem to have gone down since i turned up the heat yesterday night and he only seems to have 2 spots on his fins that look like they are on identical spots on each side. I went out and bought aquarium salt but it seems that it can be harmful to cories and otos. I don't have a separate tank for them so should i add salt or not?

My stock for the 35G is as follows:

1 Angel
1 Bolivian Ram
1 Chocolate Gourami
1 Keyhole Cichlid
8 Penguin Tetras
6 Leopard Cories
3 Otos

 

[Oscarr19]

I'm thinking just to use the temperature treatment? Can my fish tolerate temps of around 86-87F?

 

[jetajockey]

I've treated scaleless fish with salt/heat in the past without any issues, but that was just my experience. They are said to be more sensitive to treatments/meds than other fish.

If you do it just keep a close eye on them.

 

[Oscarr19]

What if i add half a dose? Say a teaspoon per 5 gallons instead of a tablespoon.

I won't be able to watch them closely today since i'll be at work. Should i still dose the salt anyway?

 

[jetajockey]

I've always just watched them while introducing the salt to the tank and then a few minutes after. I've never seen the fish have issues with salt addition to the tank, though.


I've done salt baths before though which involve a much higher concentration of salt, and the basic idea is that you add fish to the salt bath and if they act irritated then it's too strong for them and they should be removed.

 

[Oscarr19]

I'll play it safe and add salt to the tank in a small dose tomorrow so I get a chance to watch and see if they are irritated. I'll have the buckets ready in case they are.

Worst comes to worst I have a 5 gallon with a Betta and shrimp. Would I be able to house the 6 corie and 3 otos there while I treat? Then again I might transfer ich from tank to tank.

 

[Dale_I]

I have Oto's and am currently treating the tank for ich at 1 tablespoon for every 5 gallons of water and have raised the temperature to 86 degrees and they are doing fine.

In general conditions, I keep a weak salt mixture of 1 teaspoon of salt per 5 gallons of water all the time. The Oto's have thrived and grown and appear happy, active, and are among my favorite fish.

I caught the ich very early on a couple new addition Cardinal Tetras and all outward signs disappeared inside 48 hours. However, it is important to keep treatment continuing through at least two life cycles of ich. At 84 degrees, ich's life-cycle is about 3 to 4 days. At 86 degrees, they are not supposed to live through the cycle. As well, in higher doses of salt (1 tablespoon per 5 gal) they are not supposed to be able to live. Obviously, at lesser concentrations of salt (1 teaspoon per 5 gal) they can acclimate since I keep a weak concentration regularly.

I usually say a minimum of 8 days of treatment past the time they are not visible on the fish. Some recommend as long as 14 days.

 

[Oscarr19]

My main worry are the cories

 

[Oscarr19]

I've decided just to do heat treatment. I don't want to take any risks so I cranked the heat up to 86-88F. The keyhole has been clearing up but I noticed a speck on my chocolate gourami's tail.

How long should I keep the temp up? 2 weeks?

With the temp that high I'm worries about my plants though.

 

[Oscarr19]

Ugh this is annoying lol but it seems to have gotten better. I've done some reading and some people have done salt at a 1tbsp/gallon with cories. I'm going to do a water change tomorrow and will keep doing them every other day for 2 weeks. I'll be adding a 2 tablespoons of salt to the tank tomorrow and watch carefully. I'm hoping to get through this without casualties.

 

[Dale_I]

The life cycle for ich at 84 degrees is supposed to be three days. At 86 degrees, they are not supposed to live through the life cycle. Most will recommend anywhere from 10 days to 2 weeks. I treated mine with 86 degree heat and 1 tablespoon of salt for 5 days with daily water changes, then did a water change without adding any salt to lesson the concentration on the 6th day.

I have now set the temp to 78 degrees and adding a teaspoon of salt per 5 gallons will reduce the water changes to once every 3 days, unless I see any recurrence of the issue.

My personal feelings is to keep treatment to a reasonable level and just keep an eye on your fish. Sounds like you are very concerned and are watchng them closely.

 

[Reygan2]

My main worry are the cories

I'm facing the exact same issue. I love my panda cory's and I can't even dream of dosing something that would harm them. Please keep posting your progress as I am following along. I'm already slowly cranking up the temp, but I haven't added any salt.

 

[Oscarr19]

My temp is sitting at 84F but cranked up my heater to 86-87F...Faulty heater? Anyways i have been doing water changes every second day and i did add half the recommended dose of salt. The cories and otos are still doing their thing and seem unaffected so i will continue treatment at half a dose for a full 2 weeks.

The keyhole has since cleared up but i did notice a speck on my chocolate gourami. That was a couple of days ago and it hasn't gotten worse so i suspect that the treatment is going well.