Can I switch my Ich treatment from chemical to salt?

[freshwater_fish]

I posted about my situation in the main forum before I realized I should have posted here.

Basically, I really screwed up the way I set up my tank: bought plants from separate store than the fish (6 platy fish, now down to 2).

My tank was almost completely cycled when the Ich developed and killed 4 of my 6 fish.

I didn't know about the salt and heat treatment until after I started the Ich-X treatment 3 days ago.

I've been doing 1/3 water changes with drinking water (reverse osmosis) instead of my city tap water every day before I give the tank 1.5 teaspoons dosage of the Ich-X.

I'm worried now that the Ich-X will kill my fish and my 3 Java Fern and Java rock plant and be toxic to me as a human. I want to switch to Salt. Can I at this stage of the treatment?

If I put a regular carbon filter back in my tank for 1 or 2 days is that long enough to absorb the 3 days of chemical residue in the water, so that I can start using the salt method?

My tank heater is set at 80 degrees F. When I unplug the heater to do a water change the temperature goes down 2 degrees and it takes forever to get back up to 80 degrees. Why is that?

The ingredients of Ich-X are kind of scary (I hope I don't get cancer from it!):

0.1% malachite green chloride
2% methanol
5% formaldehyde
water (doesn't list percentage)

It states on the directions a "caution" that Ich-X can't be used with other medications that contain sulfinate or sulfoxylate-based water conditioners. It also states that it will stain silicone tanks etc, and it's fatal to human or animal consumption.

So you know, I don't want to treat my tank with it anymore! So, any suggestions how long it will take a carbon filter to remove 4 teaspoons worth of medication (don't forget, I have done water changes in between doses).

My tank's filter is a Marineland Penguin 100 Bio-wheel Power Filter for a 20 gallon tank.

If I switch to salt now, will that be enough to kill the Ich? And I read online that you're not supposed to dump the salt dosage at once into the tank, but to dissolve it in water first, then put small amounts in throughout the day.

I have 2 Sunburst platy left; 1 male, 1 female. I don't want to continue the strong chemical treatment because *I* don't want to get cancer from it. I know that sounds weird but I'm new at this whole fish hobbyist practice.

My water quality is pretty good right now; I use the Dip Strips test kit.

Nitrates are less than 20 (light pink = safe)
Nitrites are 3.0 (pink = stress)
Water Hardness is 75 (brown = soft)
Total Chlorine is 0 zero (white = safe)
Total Alkalinity is between 0 and 40 (light green = low/safe)
Freshwater pH is 6.8 (orange = neutral)

 

[freshwater_fish]

Will someone please respond to my post? Can I switch to salt in the middle of treating my tank with Ich-X or not?

 

[plecoman]

I am wanting to use salt also, if I get ich again. I wish I could answer your question but I haven't tried it yet. I don't think it would hurt to start the salt treatment now, but I'm just guessing. I will pass along some information that may be helpful to someone that uses aquari-sol. I used aquari-sol for treating ich and it works great, but I was still having some fish die that had totally been cleared from ich. I later found out that aquari-sol depletes the oxygen supply in the water, so I guess the fish that I lost died for lack of oxygen. Once I learned this I added a large air stone to the tank and all remaining fish survived. It's not always fun, going through the learning process, but the main thing is that we come away from it with the knowledge we need to cure our fish next time without them dieing.

I would be interested in any information that you may have on treating fish with salt, if you wouldn't mind sharing it. Thanks :idea:

 

[kj5kb]

Slow down, breathe... ... ...

Having said that, You DO give plenty of details and do write well.

OK, so how would I do it? (and yes, there are infinite variations on this!)

1/4 to 1/2 WC/gravel vac and refill with TAP water. Wouldn't hurt to have some hardness in there. Put NEW carbon in filter. Turn up the heat to desired temp.

Find a pint-to quart sized jar...glass or plastic. A large plastic mayo jar works great.

Let's assume (OK, yeah, I know about assuming!)
-you have 12 Gallons of water in the 16G tank
-you want a dosage of 1 Tablespoon per gallon.

Fill the jar halfway with water and add 4 TEAspoons of salt. Shake thoroughly. add slowly to tank a little at a time in the filter outflow. Repeat an hour or two later and again til you have 12 teaspoons in there. It's not an exact science, but you don't want to shock the fish.

Repeat over the next few days til you have 1 Tablespoons (3 teaspoons) per gallon.

If you do water changes or gravel vac'ing (recommend to remove the tomonts), be sure to add the correct amount of salt with the new water to maintain the same concentration.

Now LEAVE IT ALONE for three weeks (except for water changes). the ich may "disappear" in a few days, but continue the treatment for 3 weeks to be sure you got them all. That should cover at least 1 full ich life cycle. Platies are quite salt tolerant anyway...


Once treatment is done, reduce temp to normal and do 1/4 WC's over a few days to get back to normal....and change the filter media too.

It's a little more work than 'meds from a jar' but it's cheap and works!

Choice of salt? research it...that's up to you. Sea, "aquarium", rock, table, kosher, iodized...not sure it really matters; everyone has their preference. I would avoid any salt with added anti-caking agents. I've used aquarium, kosher and even marine salt with good results.

Here's more info on salt treatment. With platies you could even crank the temp up to 85.

http://thegab.org/Illness-and-Treatment/treating-ich-with-salt.html


Since higher temps reduce oxygen carrying capacity of water, consider adding an airstone or even better a sponge filter.

Consider a bigger (or second) filter long-term, too. A biowheel 100 by itself is a bit small for a 16G.

With the fin rot problems, I would consider adding a sulfa drug...like triple sulfa...I'd just use the 10G dose or maybe even half that, as the salt will help a bit.

 

[jpappy789]

In addition to the above, get a liquid test kit. Dip strips are unreliable.

Water quality is very important when treating disease because a stressed fish is just going to stay susceptible. If those readings are anywhere near accurate then you first have to get the parameters (I'm mainly talking about ammonia and nitrite) under control. This is probably what caused the fin rot as well.