Salt...

[scrappy]

I found my filter powerhead was not functioning correctly last night and have replaced the powerhead today (unfortunatly its not easy to tell how long it wasnt working right as it wasnt that it wasnt working, its more that it was not working to full power). Anyway i noticed that a bit of poop was collecting in the corner of the tank (this was what alerted me to check the filter. Last saturday was the last water change and it was working fine then, so anytime since then the filter could have been working at less output.

Anyway its generated a bout of Ich in the tank and a few fish have quite a bit of the pesky spots on them (ive had Ich before but its been mainly to my Clown Loach and wasnt too bad and disspeared quite quickly after treatment).

Ive done all the normal things i do, put the temp up to 80, 50% water change and started protozin meds, as its a slightly worse case than ive seen before ive been thinking about adding some salt to the tank (ive not done this before and from what ive read is a good way of helping destroy the parasites. My question is whats the best salt to use as im assuming table salt couldnt be used in a tank, and also what ratio would you add salt... ie. pinches of salt per gallon/gallons???

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Don't use salt at all because the clown loachs will not be able to tolerate and it'll more likely kill them before its medical effects start to kick in, many fish are actually intolerant of salt. Also it has to be special aquarium salt designed for fish and not normal table salt as table salt contains more than just salt and is not good for fish.
Just keep using the anti whitespot med as you are, make sure you do regular water changes and substrate cleaning sessions but also keep an eye on med levels in the tank so you don't under or overdose your fish of meds.
Continue using the meds for at least a further 2weeks after the whitespots have disapeared as they'll still be present in the tank, if you stop medicating the tank after the whitespots have disapeared you'll run a large risk of getting a second bout of whitespot on your fish. Whitespot im afraid, is a lengthy desease to treat and quite lethal to fish so keep an eye on your fish so you don't leave any fish that die in the tank to rot if you do have any casualtys.

 

[Durbkat]

What kind of fish are in the tank? What size tank is it? It will be best to use aquarium salt and the measurment is one rounded teaspoon of salt for every 5 gallons. But I don't think you need any salt to treat ich.

 

[scrappy]

Thanks for the replies... I'll give the salt a miss, ive been lucky and have never had a casualty from Ich, hopefully i wont this time either... Thanks for the advice guys/gals...

The treatment states to only do days 1,2,3 & 6, so if im to continue treatment for 2 weeks do i leave a gap after day 6 and start the treatment cycle of 1,2,3 & 6 again, if so what gap after day 6 or should i continue without a gap? Also i normally do a 30% water change once a week, however i did 50% yesterday (which i do as standard if im about to start treatment) should i do changes once every 2 days and at what % ratio?

Durbkat, this is my 400l tank (about 90 gallons or so), i have quite a few scaleless fish like Loaches, Corys & Small Syno Catfish, along with various tetras & other small community fish. I have to half the normal treatment dosage of protozin due to having these type of fish in the tank, and as you and Tokis said there is no need to add salt to the tank, so i'll take your aqdvice and give it a miss... Thanks

 

[Inchworm]

Hi scrappy

Do you have another tank? If so, you could safely rehome your corys for the duration of the treatment because it is very, very unusual for them to be effected by ich. The medication is more likely to cause them harm.

 

[jolaf]

Like most posting done here it is a take what you want and leave the rest. I personally have a clown loach with other inhabitants in my tank that does well with salt. i have never added more than a quarter size to the tank after a water change. It does not disolve really rather melts and stay is in the tank. At first I was afraid to add it. but since I have I do not see signs of stress or ich since I had a 6 week bout with ich. In conjunction I used rid-ich as my medicine. To salt or not to salt that is a personal choice. Something to not play around with if you have such fish as you do in your tank they seem to be the ones who do not tolerat e it well. Good luck on the ich. I have a 30 G tank with 6 neons, one chinese algae eater, one clown loach, a green barb, 4 red eye tertas, a ghost shrimp and two small guppies.

I found my filter powerhead was not functioning correctly last night and have replaced the powerhead today (unfortunatly its not easy to tell how long it wasnt working right as it wasnt that it wasnt working, its more that it was not working to full power). Anyway i noticed that a bit of poop was collecting in the corner of the tank (this was what alerted me to check the filter. Last saturday was the last water change and it was working fine then, so anytime since then the filter could have been working at less output.

Anyway its generated a bout of Ich in the tank and a few fish have quite a bit of the pesky spots on them (ive had Ich before but its been mainly to my Clown Loach and wasnt too bad and disspeared quite quickly after treatment).

Ive done all the normal things i do, put the temp up to 80, 50% water change and started protozin meds, as its a slightly worse case than ive seen before ive been thinking about adding some salt to the tank (ive not done this before and from what ive read is a good way of helping destroy the parasites. My question is whats the best salt to use as im assuming table salt couldnt be used in a tank, and also what ratio would you add salt... ie. pinches of salt per gallon/gallons???

 

[scrappy]

Thanks for the advice guys, im still wondering how i should continue treatment of protozin after ive done days 1,2,3 & 6 as it was suggested to continue for a further 2 weeks to tottaly eradicate the problem.

Any suggestions on a treatment pattern?

 

[big mick]

I personally wouldnt keep treating the tank once the whitespot has cleared up, keep a close eye on things once it appears to have gone and if it seems to reappear THEN treat it but I wouldnt treat it for another 2 weeks after, over medicating your tank will cause problems, the bacteria that causes whitespot is in every aquarium all the time, its only when fish are stressed it comes out so unless you keep your temerature high enough that the bacteria cant live in the tank, but unfortunatly most fish wont like the higher temperatures.

As with most things, everyone has their own way of doing things but I use as little meds in my tanks as possible.

 

[SkiFletch]

Whitespot is not a bacterium, it is a protozoan with a defined life cycle, kind of like a butterfly. The reason you are supposed to continue to treat after symptoms (spots) have abated is because the only time the protozoans can be killed by medication is when they are in their free-swimming form. That form can be anywhere from 3-7 days after the last symptoms are seen, hence continuing treatment. If there is no medication present when the protozoans go into free-swimming form they will not be killed and they will again infect the fish, usually in greater numbers.

 

[jolaf]

Agreed

Whitespot is not a bacterium, it is a protozoan with a defined life cycle, kind of like a butterfly. The reason you are supposed to continue to treat after symptoms (spots) have abated is because the only time the protozoans can be killed by medication is when they are in their free-swimming form. That form can be anywhere from 3-7 days after the last symptoms are seen, hence continuing treatment. If there is no medication present when the protozoans go into free-swimming form they will not be killed and they will again infect the fish, usually in greater numbers.

 

[scrappy]

I still need to know what course to take, ive done days 1,2, & 3, will be doing day 6 on Thursday, what do i do after that... Start the same cycle again or leave some kind of gap?

 

[jolaf]

When I had ich I medicated like you did then did it for two days after to make sure. That is what i did.

I still need to know what course to take, ive done days 1,2, & 3, will be doing day 6 on Thursday, what do i do after that... Start the same cycle again or leave some kind of gap?

 

[dwarfgourami]

Like most posting done here it is a take what you want and leave the rest. I personally have a clown loach with other inhabitants in my tank that does well with salt. i have never added more than a quarter size to the tank after a water change. It does not disolve really rather melts and stay is in the tank. At first I was afraid to add it. but since I have I do not see signs of stress or ich since I had a 6 week bout with ich. In conjunction I used rid-ich as my medicine. To salt or not to salt that is a personal choice. Something to not play around with if you have such fish as you do in your tank they seem to be the ones who do not tolerat e it well.
[

Problem with keeping freshwater fish permanently in salt, Jolaf, is that it may cause longterm kidney damage. So it may not be apparent at first that the salt is not doing your loach any good, but it could shorten his lifespan. Undissolved salt in the tank also sounds dodgy as it could cause skin burns.

 

[jolaf]

I don't use it as a staple part of my tank I only used it once and it helped clear a bad parasite or ich that is the only use I used it for. I appreciate your comments though. Thank you

Like most posting done here it is a take what you want and leave the rest. I personally have a clown loach with other inhabitants in my tank that does well with salt. i have never added more than a quarter size to the tank after a water change. It does not disolve really rather melts and stay is in the tank. At first I was afraid to add it. but since I have I do not see signs of stress or ich since I had a 6 week bout with ich. In conjunction I used rid-ich as my medicine. To salt or not to salt that is a personal choice. Something to not play around with if you have such fish as you do in your tank they seem to be the ones who do not tolerat e it well.
[

Problem with keeping freshwater fish permanently in salt, Jolaf, is that it may cause longterm kidney damage. So it may not be apparent at first that the salt is not doing your loach any good, but it could shorten his lifespan. Undissolved salt in the tank also sounds dodgy as it could cause skin burns.