Possible ich / Salt Bath? / Black out tank / Placo and Salt?

[robertwdc]

Hello all...
Got a problem. I hope one or more of the experts can help.

I got a couple of new fish this past week (clown loaches) ...and one of them has popped up with the first signs of the DREADED white spots. I got them as companions for my other 2 large healthy and happy clowns. I'm struck with the fear that I have just introduced ich into the tank. This cares the heck out of me, because the last time I had ich, (quite awhile ago now...) I tried to treat chemically (Rid-Ich+)....which ended up in a few of my favorite fish passing...

Here are my questions. I'm not entirely sure it is ich. There are only 2 or 3 tiny white spots, so I'm very closly monitoring him, along with my other fish. With the thought that I will attempt the salt/heat treatment this go around, I have initially begun my very slow tempature increase. I have read from time to time about salt baths for fish. I've tried to do a search on salt ...salt bath...and just bath on this forum for anyting pertaining to details about that...but have not been successful. Can someone tell me what exactly a salt bath is...how to put one in place..the procedure for it...and if you think I should give my little guy a salt bath?

My second question is this... I read in another post while searching that Placo Catfish do not do well with salt. Is this true? I've had my Placo in salt before...and he did fine with it....BUT I don't want to put him in danger. If I need to proceed with the heat and salt, will my Placo Cat do ok with it?

My last question (sorry...I'm filled with them tonite....I'm just in panic mode). I've read that another successful way of ridding ich is to black out the tank, covering it with black plastic or blanket to remove all light for 48 hours. Has anyone had experience with this, and would this be a preferred method over the heat and salt method?

Thank you for taking the time to help me. I'm afraid I may have the dreaded ich with will pop out any day...and I just want to be totally prepared beforehand as to way I'm going to proceed.

Thanks so much!
Robert

PS... My tank... 35 gal.
4 clown loaches
2 Mollies
4 Mollie Fry
2 Red Swords
6 Blood Finned Tetras
2 Guppies
1 Placo Catfish

[dwool36]

Clown loaches get ich VERY easily when stressed, so it is most likely ich. All of your fish (not sure about the pleaco) can handle 1 tbsp per 5 gallons of salt (not table salt). I use Kosher salt (it is much cheaper than "aquarium salt"). I suspect the pleaco may be alright, but you may want to google it first. I would add it gradually with a few water changes. Don't wait for it to get worse...go ahead and start treating now.

[lotsoffish]

First things I would do is a water change, crank up the temp to 85 and treat with formalin.That alone may be enough to knock the ich back.

[TheOldSalt]

The blackout thing is a goofy idea brought about by the idea that the parasite might use sunlight to "see" which way is up, and if in the dark it will just sit on the bottom & starve.
This is ridiculous. Even if it did work, the fish would likewise sit on the bottom in easy reach if the ickies.
Other forms of ick which aren't really ick but collectively lumped with it might indeed actually need some light to hunt, but again it won't really work.

Formalin is good. Avoid copper & malachite with clown loaches.
Salt baths are temporary treatments involving placing the fish in salty water for a short time, as the name suggests, but they aren't any good against ick, really. They do help nail the ickies exposed to the water on the gills, but the ones buried under & protected by the fish's slime are unaffected. Salt baths are good for things like infections, but not really worth the trouble for ick.
Putting salt in the main tank & raising the temp to 86 or so will work remarkably well in most cases, although catfishes aren't very tolerant of it.

[fishiefish]

I am also dealing with a bout of ich- I have a 50 gallon tank with 11 neons and a fancy guppy. I have been running a treatment of "Prevent-Ich" for two weeks without the carbon in the filter and without success! They are still icky! I did a 50% water change before I started treatment and again after the first week. My water temp is around 76 degrees, so my question is-- will it stress the fish too much to do another water change to increase the temp? (I just changed water yesterday) Is there a better med that I could or should try? (I thought Formalin was bad for tetras.) In case it makes any difference, I have live plants, too. Although at this point they are secondary to the fish in my concern for the tank's overall health.

Thanks for your input!

[robertwdc]

Thank you all so much for the help! I have decided to go the natural method and am increasing my temp (currently at 83 and slowly rising) and adding the salt.

Thank you again for helping me out so quickly!

Robert

[violet]

When I got some fish (bristlenose ancistrus) with ich not long ago I first tried 3TBLS of salt in 10G and ~87F with daily vacuuming of the bottom (no substrate) and replacing the water with the right ratio of salt. After almost a week with no real improvement I upped it to 5TBLS salt in 10G and 91F which worked in just a few days. I did lose a few fish, possibly from the stress of the first (unsuccessful) week. Ich seems a LOT harder to kill than it used to be.

Vy

[msdolittle]

Ugh........this is scaring me! I raised my temps to 83-84, I added salt, and I'm using rid ich......so far everyone is fine, but now I'm worried hearing the horror stories!

[pokagon55]

Here read this article on salt

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.u...article_id=335

Now read this article and then make up your own mind http://www.algone.com/salt_in_fresh.htmon

[msdolittle]

The second one says page cannot be found.....

[pokagon55]

http://www.fishdoc.net/articles/deta...p?articleId=28
Ok, how about this
http://www.algone.com/salt_in_fresh.htm
It worked this time

http://www.thekrib.com/Diseases/ich.html

[msdolittle]

Yes, it worked that time! Thanks!