axolotl-danio Posted April 29, 2009 Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 My 165 litre tank that contains some sensitive fish (tetras, kuhli loaches, corydora, bristlenose and a small spiny eel) has come down with ich . Is there any way I can cure it without harming the fish, the plants or the good bacteria. I read that turning up the temp to 30-32c will kill the ich after about 10 days and the fish have had no ill effects at this temp for the past 4 days but does heat treatment actually work. I also decided to buy a quarantine tank for when I buy new fish so that I have less problems in the future. Thanks :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkLB Posted April 29, 2009 Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 Hi axolotl-danio. The higher temp speeds up the life cycle of the ich, thus shortening the treatment time, but to my knowledge doesn't harm it. I have used salt with success and found this to be an excellent article http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ich.php HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axolotl-danio Posted April 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 Wouldn't salt harm the corydoras (bronze) and possibly the loaches etc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkLB Posted April 29, 2009 Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 The tank I treated had Sterbai and Peppered Cories and they had no problems with the salt. I have no experience of Loaches so can't help sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted April 29, 2009 Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 nopes. my loaches are fine with a more than fair and generous serving of salt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axolotl-danio Posted April 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 How much salt? DO you think the plants would be ok with salt? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted April 29, 2009 Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 my plants are fine with salt too. im sorry i dont really usemeasures of salt. i justchuck a fair bit in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axolotl-danio Posted April 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 Well I did a bit of research and read that I should add 1 teaspoons per gallon (165 litres = 43.5883886 US gallons) every day for 3 days. Sounds a little safer than just chucking a whole lot in :roll: I dont think I have enough aquarium salt so I will go get some tomorrow. The brooklands tonic salt is the stuff to use right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted April 29, 2009 Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 Rock salt from the supermarket works well and is alot cheaper than the aquarium stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkLB Posted April 30, 2009 Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 Rock salt from the supermarket works well and is alot cheaper than the aquarium stuff Ditto, it's what I use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axolotl-danio Posted May 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2009 I only added 5 tablespoons of salt as that is all I had left and I have not braught any more yet (keep forgetting). The ich is not on the fish anymore. I read in several places that heat alone (30c+) can kill ich and I had turned my tank up to 32c for the past 7 days with no ill effects on the fish. So how much longer should I keep the tank at that temp to make sure I have killed off all the ich that is not on the fish? Thanks :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkLB Posted May 3, 2009 Report Share Posted May 3, 2009 Sorry to repeat myself but the answers can be found here found this to be an excellent article http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ich.php This is from the article.... "The adjusted temperature should be maintained for approximately 10 days, or a minimum of 3 days after all signs of the parasite have disappeared. Do not discontinue treatment when the spots go away. This is critical, because we know that they are visible only as a trophont on the body of the host, and not during the reproductive or free-swimming stage. We also know that trophonts on the gills are impossible to see." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axolotl-danio Posted May 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2009 UPDATE: Some of the fish seemed stressed so I turned down the temp and decided to add a half dose of wunder whitespot cure as this worked on my ember tetras. Should I run the filter while medicating the tank? (It does not contain carbon) My thaughts are that if I run the filter the med will kill the good bacteria but if I dont run the filter the ich will still be in the filter. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted May 14, 2009 Report Share Posted May 14, 2009 You're right about no carbon, but do not turn off your filter. How are things going? Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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