Question:
wot salt should i use?
*mommy to 3 boys*
2007-03-26 09:06:27 UTC
my fish have ick/ich.
i just wanted to know what salt i sould use to treat it?
also i just wanted to make sure that this is safe for my fish?
will turning the temp upto 88-90f harm them?
thanks :o)
Seven answers:
magicman116
2007-03-26 09:12:20 UTC
88-90 F will not harm your fish as long as they have adequate filtration and water motion. You may want to add an air stone to the tank to increase water flow so that the dissolved oxygen doesn't get low.



As for the salt, most any salt will do EXCEPT table salt with iodine. Be sure to buy non-iodinized salt. No sea salt and no saltwater mixes from the pet shop. Non-iodinized table salt, Kosher salt, pickling sat, any of those are fine. Iodine in the amounts included in table salt can and will harm your fish, so please don't use that.



EDIT: You are getting some really bad information. Salt does readily kill ich in freshwater fish. The reason salt water fish get ich is because there is ich that lives in saltwater and ich that lives in freshwater. Two different animals. Just like there are freshwater fish and saltwater fish. The minor amount of salt you need to kill the ich in a freshwater tank will not harm most freshwater fishes. Other info is simply wrong. Here's a l;ittle science to back up the answer:



Salt is a valid ich treatment you can find literally 1000's of hobby related links that support this and some that don't, but here's support from veterinarian conferences, research labs, government publications and and various University Fisheries and Biology departments. It's science and it's proven.



veterinarian support of salt treatment

http://www.aquariumfish.com/aquariumfish...

http://www.vin.com/vindbpub/searchpb/pro...



General resource

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ichthyophth...



Scientific research links

Supports salt treatment with heat

http://sciencesearch.defra.gov.uk/docume...

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/body_fa006...

http://www.sbs.utexas.edu/bio354l/projec...

Supports heat treatment:

http://www.ces.purdue.edu/extmedia/as/as...

Download the Ich pdf here:

http://www.aces.edu/dept/fisheries/aquac...





By the way, the salt will also kill the fungus you mention in another question.



MM
Sunday P
2007-03-26 11:51:20 UTC
Magic Man is correct. I have used salt to cure ick sucessfully with no stress to my fish or biological system. I don't know where the others are getting their information but salt has been known to cure ick long long long before there was any such thing as Quick Cure. QC is stressful to fish, kills the filter, discolors the silocone, can easily be overdosed (BC a 55 gallon holds less water than 55 gallons). MM knows what he's talking about, and is right on the money on the advice he gives.

Here's how I did it with salt on my goldfish.

Day 1 Raise the temp to 83 degrees and add one teaspoon of salt per gallon in the morning and then repeat in the evening.

Day 2 One teaspoon of salt in the morning and evening again.

Day 3 more ick may show up

Day 4 Ick going away

By day 7 no ick but keep them in salt bath for another week

Day 14 start changing with fresh water now. Ick is completely gone.

The problem with the meds is that it is usually only a 3 day treatment. The tank gets reinfected when the tomites fall off of the fish, since QC only kills eggs and free swimmers, not any on the body of the fish, so your tank gets reinfested. You retreat, you kill the bio-system, and your tank begins to recycle. Causing the fish to stress and get ill with ick or something worse. Bad cycle, and I've been down that road too when I first started, but my new rule of thumb is start with salt first. You really need a microscope to diagnose illness requiring meds, simply BC the meds can kill much faster than the disease if you don't know what you're doing.

My favorite salt to use is Mortons Ice Cream Salt. Just make sure there is nothing but salt in the salt. (non-iodized). I don't think 88 will harm them but I don't think you have to go that high. The bad bugs begin to die off at 82 degrees, the salt gets them over the edge. Add an additional air stone when heating, as dissoved oxygen is less at higher temps. What a "fancy airstone" does is create more surface area which in turn puts more oxygen in the tank. Its the surfaces of all the tiny bubbles that add surface area. It also takes out carbon dioxide and other harmful gasses that build in the aquarium. So yea fancy bubblers are necessary.
flipnotik
2007-03-26 09:16:46 UTC
The most effective way is to turn the heat up (gradually, dont make a sudden leap from like 80 to 90). The reason for this is that the parasite would grow faster, shortening their lifespan. Do not use your ordinary table salt, it contains other chemicals that are harmful to you fish. Just get aquarium salt that is not really expensive (less than 2 bucks). Hope this helps
Ryan D
2007-03-26 09:12:21 UTC
You cannot use salt to treat ich. Only medicine will treat ich. Salt is NOT safe in mass quantities for your fish. 90 is too high for your fish and if you have gold fish, they will die.



Use medicines



Also all salt is fine. Every living creature needs iodine. INCLUDING your fish. DO NOT TREAT ich with salt. You will loose your fish. This is an old myth. God I wish it would go away.
Corgis4Life
2007-03-26 09:24:04 UTC
Yes, water that hot can kill them... most fish like water in between 78-83 degrees. You can go purchase an ick treatment from a local petshop, would be the best way to go.
danielle Z
2007-03-26 09:19:50 UTC
Dear Lord, do not use salt to treat ich in your tank. The massive amounts needed to drop the parasite (which by the way won't leave the tank) would kill your fish first.



Use a medicine. That is to say you know what kind of ich you have. Increasing the temperature over 90 will take 2-3 days safely.



Unless you do a salt dip and return your fish, even still you need to treat the tank.



Here is more about ich:

Is it white spot disease or is it Ich? You need to know the difference between the two since they are treated differently.



Cryptocaryoniasis, White Spot Disease or Marine Ich is caused by an infestation of the ciliated protozoan Cryptocaryon irritans. Although Cryptocaryon becomes a parasitic organism at one stage in its life cycle like Oodinium and Brooklynella do, and it progesses less rapidly than these other ich diseases, in a closed aquarium system it can reach overwhelming and disasterous numbers just the same if it is not diagnosed and treated upon recognition.



Unlike Oodinium and Brooklynella that typically attack the gills first, which allows these ich diseases to advance into life-threatening levels quickly as they go unnoticed, Cryptocaryon usually appears at the onset as salt-sized white spots visible on the body and fins of a host fish, and when the organisms become parasitic, it is then that they move inwards to the gills. Because crypto is more easily recognized in its beginning stage, this makes it much easier to treat and cure before it gets out of control.



Aside from the appearance of the white spots, fish will scratch against objects in an attempt to dislodge the parasites, and rapid respiration develops as tomonts, mucus, and tissue debris clogs the gills. Fish become listless, refuse to eat, loss of color occurs in patches or blotches as the trophonts destroy the pigment cells, and secondary bacterial infections invade the lesions caused by the trophonts.



Although copper is very effective on Oodinium, and it works well to eliminate crypto organisms in their free-swimming tomite stage, it is not as effective on the Cryptocaryon trophonts that burrow deeply into the tissues of fish. A combination of freshwater and formalin treatments adminstered by means of dips, baths, and prolonged treatment over a period of time in a QT is recommended



Reinfection will occur no matter how effectively the fish have been treated if Cryptocaryon is not eradicated from the main aquarium, which can be accomplished by keeping the tank devoid of any fish for at least 4 weeks. For fish-only aquariums hyposalinity can be applied, and to speed up the life cycle of the organisms, elevate the tank temperature to 85 degrees for 10 days to 12 days. For treating reef tanks, FishVet No-Ich Marine, Ruby Reef Kick-Ich, and Chem-Marin Stop Parasites are Cryptocaryon specific remedies that are said to be "reef safe". Several days prior to returning fish to the main aquarium, clean all filtering equipment, change any filtering materials, and do a water change.



Remember to remove all filters media and turn off protein skimmers when treating for any types of Ich.



Although many over-the-counter remedies contain the general name Ich or Ick, carefully read the product information to be sure it is designed to specifically target and treat "Cryptocaryon"



Brooklynella hostilis - these protozoa reproduce asexually by means of simple binary fission through conjugation, which is why they are able to multiply so much more rapidly than Cryptocaryon (White Spot), and Oodinium (Velvet Ich), and why it can kill fish within a few days and even hours upon recognition



Most similar symptomatically to Oodinium, this too is a parasite that primarily attacks the gills first. At the onset fish may scrap up against objects, rapid respiration develops, and fish often gasp for air at the surface as the gills become clogged with mucus. Fish become lethargic, refuse to eat, and colors fade, but the most noticeable difference that sets Brooklynella apart from Oodinium is the heavy amount of slime that is produced. As the disease progresses a thick whitish mucus covers the body, usually starting at the head and spreading outward, skin lesions appear, and it is not uncommon for signs of secondary bacterial infections to arise.



Suggestions range from copper, malachite green and other remedies, with some recommended being used in conjunction with formaldehyde. However the general consensus is these types of medications are either largely ineffective or do not work at all, and that the best and most effective treatment for Brooklynella is formaldehyde alone. Typically a standard 37% formalin solution (shop & compare prices) is mixed with either fresh or saltwater in a separate treatment container, initially all fish are given a quick dip or a prolonged bath, followed by continued treatment and care in a QT. Of course the longer fish are exposed to the formalin treatment, the more effective it will be at eliminating this "disease". Whether to administer a dip or a bath to start with is something you will have to determine yourself, but there's a very simple way to do this.



Since these are Free swimming parasites which are in watersources, come attached to our fish etc. The only way to ensure NO ICH is to get a UV Sterilizer and addit to the tank. The UV Sterilizer kills the free swimming forms of various ich and other parasites.



Hope this help

If the swarmers do not find a fish host, they die in about 3 days (depending on the water temperature).

Therefore, to treat it, medicine must be added to the display tank to kill free-living parasites. If fish are removed to quarantine, parasites living in the tank will escape the treatment -- unless ALL fish are removed for about a week in freshwater or three weeks in saltwater systems. In a reef tank, where invertebrates are sensitive to ich medications, removing the fish is the only option. Some people think that ich is probably dormant in most tanks. It is most often triggered by temperature fluctuations.

Salt does not kill ich. If that were the case, marine fish would not get ich.



Garlic soaked food which you can do on your own will help prevent ich.



And yes RyanD is right, any salt will do since ALL living creatures need iodine to survive.



Also, adding an airstone will add little to NO dissolved oxygen to your tank. Dissolved Oxygen which fish breath only enters the tank in the form of air movement against water. Even the little bubbles popping at the surface do NOTHING. You need waterfalls, (Filer) powerheads, waves fountains etc. Not air stones They are Decorative only.
catslovercat
2007-03-26 09:11:16 UTC
ask vet


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