Treating Ick

[Masher]

I have a 46gal freshwater community tank and I noticed that a few of my fish have ick. I would rather treat the tank with salt and heat than medication, but I am a bit confused on a good “rule of thumb” approach to treating my tank. I’ve read on the Internet that I could go raise my tank temp to 86 degrees of and add 2-3 tablespoons of salt per gal. I already use 1 tablespoon per 5gal of water just as tonic/stress reducer. Does anyone have a good recommendation for me?

[aquak]

You have to be VERY careful using salt with the "sharks." One moderator on this site says she killed a shark with it.

[CrazieEddie]

The minimum treatment would be to raise the temp, gradually, up to 82 or more, at the rate of about a degree an hour. You can raise it even more if you feel your fish are compatible at high temps. I was leary of raising the temps any higher than 82, since my cardinal tetras are supposed to tolerate no more than 76 degrees.

You should also perform daily lite gravel cleaning and water changes, this is due a stage of ich, where it releases from the host and drops to the substrate and forms a cysts. It later hatches to become alot of free swimming parasites.

You can use aquarium salt, but make sure you add it gradually. The typical dosage, as stated on the box, 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons. Make sure it's aquarium salt and NOT sea salt. Put the salt in water first and let it dissolve completely, waiting at least 2-3 hours or more for it to completely dissolve. Then slowly pour the solution in the tank slowly, over an hour or so.

As Aquak stated, be careful with the sharks, even the snails. If you see any signs of distress from the salt solution (rapid darting back and forth), then perform a small water change. I have found that most fish can tolerate some salt for a short period of time. I had a bout of ick in my 37 gallon tank and all I did was raise the temp, performed water changes/gravel cleaning, and added salt. My pl*cos, cardinal tetras, & dwarf gouramis supposedly cannot tolerate salt, but I had no problems. All the fishes survived the bout with ich.

Good luck.

[Masher]

Thanks for advice on the shark and snail…I have both. I already use a small aquarium salt content in my tank, so my LPS suggested that I go a little higher with the salt and increase the heat to 80. I’ve done both very slowly and so far so good.

I’ve read a couple of articles that suggested to increase the salt content to 3 tablespoons of aquarium salt per 5gals and raise the temp to 86. I think I’ll stay on the conservative side.

--Kevin--