Cure For WhiteSpot Question?

Question

I have 3 Strawberry Tetras, 2 Blue Jay Tetras, 5 Tiger Barbs, 2 Platys, 2 Guppies, 2 Painted Glass Fish, and 4 Gold Dust Mollies. Today I noticed small white salt-sized spots only on the fins of Strawberry and Blue Jay Tetras, particularly the Blue Jays. I know all a few things about White-Spot. The majority of the sites and books I read say that adding salt is one way to cure White-Spot and I want to know if adding salt in a FRESHWATER tank is O.k?

Note: My tank is a 21 gallon tank with a filter, heater, plastic plants and plastic decor. The temperature is 25 degrees. I already removed the Tetras from the tank and placed them in a hospital tank and added a dose of Aqua Plus.

Answer 1

This has been my method of treatment for many years. I've probably treated 100 times and fortunately have not seen it in over 2 years. I presently have about 25 tanks up and running between hobby and business.

Treatment of Freshwater Ich, Ichthyophthirius.
It is believed that ich is present in all aquariums. Fish that have the disease exhibit small white dots about this size of a grain of salt. It is very contagious and it is fatal.
The best protection is a healthy tank with water changes done weekly or every other week with a gravel vac in the amount of 20-25% of the tank volume. A sound practice in fish keeping is to keep new fish in quarantine 4-7 days before adding them to your tank. The stress from being shipped from the wholesale to the retailer, the stress of living in the retailers tanks which may be overcrowded and poorly maintained and the stress of being bagged up and taken to your home can weaken a fish and make it most vulnerable to ich and other ailments. Rather than introduce a sick fish to your aquarium, it is better to quarantine it until you know it is healthy.

When sound fish keeping practices are not enough, fortunately ich is also very easy to cure. Freshwater ich should not be confused with marine ich, Cryptocaryon irritans. Salt will weaken freshwater ich, obviously marine ich, being in salt water already, this is obviously not the same treatment.

First step:
20-25% water change with gravel vac. Most likely your poor water conditions contributed to the outbreak of ich.
Second step:
Raise temperature (no more than 1° per hour) to 85°.
Third step:
Add aquarium salt (not table salt) in the amount of one rounded tablespoon per 5 gallons. If you have scaleless fish such as loaches, catfish and "algae eaters", reduce that to one rounded teaspoon per 5 gallons, as they don't tolerate salt well.
http://www.aquariumpharm.com/en_us/productCategory.asp?categoryname=WaterConditioners
Fourth step:
After 24 hours, a second 20-25% water change. Add more salt. If you took 5 gallons out in the change, put another rounded tablespoon in.
Adjust for your situation.
Fifth step:
Wait 24 hours.
Sixth Step:
A third water change of 20-25% and replace salt removed.

If this does not cure the fish, and no signs of improvement show up yet, you may want to use a commercial ich curative, all of which require removal of the carbon from your filter, or the carbon will filter out the medication. You can continue with the cleaning process and maintain salt levels. Brackish water fish such as mollies need to have some salt in order to maintain good health. Most other fish benefit from a little aquarium salt as well.

One of the most common is copper sulfate medications like Aquarasol http://www.aq-products.com/APpro/aquarisol.htm
In more extreme cases, Malachite Green is very popular.
http://www.aq-products.com/APpro/quickcure.htm
In the case of scaleless fish such as loaches and catfish, a formaldehyde based Formalin
http://www.aq-products.com/APpro/formalin.htm
Be extremely careful with Formalin doses, many are super concentrated containing 37% formaldehyde, as 1 teaspoon treats 90 gallons.
Some are pre-diluted like Formalin-3, where the dosage is 1-2 teaspoons per 10 gallons. Formalin will kill the bacteria in your filter that break down the waste,
http://www.novalek.com/kordon/formalin/index.htm
Some products contain a combination of these medications. Read the labels and know what you are putting in your tank.

Good Luck

Answer 2

Yes, combining salt and heat is one way of treating Ich or white spot disease in a freshwater tank. Yu can use salt and heat or a commercial ich cure, whichever you are more comfortable with, both will get the job done. Since ich is a parasite that spends part of it's life cycle in the gravel and water of the tank you will need to treat the entire tank and not just the infected fish.

To treat with salt and heat in your tank, take the heat to 32C at the rate of about 1 degree every 2-3 hours. You made need to increase the aeration in the tank while the heat is this high. Add salt slowly until you have added 1-1.5 grams per liter or 1 tablespoon per gallon. Dissolve the salt in some water from the tank and add it back a little at the time. Several hours to a day to get all of the salt into the tank. Keep the heat and salt at this level for 7-10 days or for 4 days after you see the last white spot on any fish, whichever is longer.

To use a commercial treatment, look for something that contains either copper or malachite green and treat as directed but I would suggest again treating for 4-5 days after you have seen the last white spot on any fish.

Best of luck and if I can help any more please feel free to email.

MM

Answer 3

It is ok to add a certain amount of salt, but, I prefer to use a proper treatment which will be available at any pet store....it colours the water for while but then fades ( it is more effective than salt ). Another thing to do is raise the temperature and the reduces the life cycle of the parasite.

Oh and by the way, make sure you do the partial water change before adding the whitespot treatment if you go down that route

Answer 4

1. Increase temperature to 30°C/86°F. With tropical fish, an increase in temperature to 30°C/86°F is usually very well-tolerated. Since this temperature prevents reproduction of Ich, it can theoretically cure the problem by itself. So the first step would be to increase the temperature slowly, 1°C/2°F per hour until the correct temperature is reached. This temperature should be maintained for 10 days, and then slowly returned to normal. Some fish can tolerate higher temperatures. If your fish are more heat tolerant, try increasing the temperature to 32°C/89.5°F for the first 3-4 days to kill the Ich. Then reduce temperature slowly to 30°C/86°F, and hold it there for an additional 6-7 days, or until a total of 10 days have passed. Gauge the heat tolerance of your fish by observing their reaction.

2. Increase aeration. Increased temperature leads to increased metabolism, which enhances the fish’s immune response but also increases oxygen demand. Oxygen is lower in warmer water, so it is very important to increase surface agitation during the treatment to increase oxygenation. In planted tanks with CO2 injection, the CO2 should be turned off and extra aeration should be provided. Carefully observe your fish, watching for signs that they are not getting enough oxygen. If fish are gasping at the surface, you need to provide more aeration. Aeration can be increased by reducing the water level so the filter return makes more of a waterfall and splash, and/or use an airstone placed close to the surface of the water.

3. Do daily partial water changes. 25% daily partial water changes will provide several benefits: It will keep the water very clean, which will help fish cope with the stress of the disease. It will remove some of the trophonts and tomites. It will add oxygen. This author also recommends the use of NovAqua+ to condition the change water. This product is a dechlorinator and has several additional benefits that help fish under stress, including sealing of the wounds caused by the Ich. If the water changes seem to stress the fish, reduce the size and/or frequency of the water changes.

4. Use a Micron Filter. The Aqua Clear Quick Filter used with a power head is an easy and inexpensive way to capture both free-swimming stages and the cysts of Ich in water that passes through the filter. A diatom filter can also be used. Both of these filters trap particles as small as one micron in size. The smallest stage of Ich, the free-swimming, swarming tomite, is approximately 30 microns, large enough to be trapped in this type of filter. Change the filter daily with the water changes. The Quick Filter cartridge can be cleaned and reused. Rinse thoroughly in very hot water, or boil for a few minutes to kill any stage of Ich that may be trapped inside. Or use a fresh cartridge. Make sure your fish are comfortable with the current caused by the additional filter.

The following optional procedures where appropriate are also beneficial:

5. Remove Gravel. In a non-planted aquarium and where practical, the temporary removal of the gravel reduces attachment sites for the tomont and makes it easier to siphon the floor of the aquarium where many tomonts will be located.

6. Use salt. In a non-planted aquarium with tolerant fish, the addition of Aquarium salt at the rate of 1 teaspoon per 4 liters/1 gallon of water disrupts the fluid regulation of Ich. Do not add salt crystals directly to tank. Always dissolve salt in a small amount of tank water before adding to tank. This dosage may be repeated every 12 hours for a total of three treatments. When Ich is gone, salt is removed with daily 25% water changes.

you can also buy a great product in my opinion called Para Guard and dose it into the tank as directed and you can also individually dip the fish.

an article on Para Guard: http://aquaweb.pair.com/forums/archives/loach6/index.cgi?read=82041

Resale:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=4741&Ntt=para%20guard&Ntk=All&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&pc=1&N=0&Nty=1

Answer 5

tetras can't handle salt well... the guppies, platies and mollies actually like salt. so salt would be a good cure for them, but for the tetras, just buy some ich ( white-spot ) medicine. good luck :^ )

Answer 6

you truly could placed them in yet another tank far flung from the different fish. I had black mollies that were given whitespot and skim an previous e book that stated to seem temperature contained in the tank gradually over 3/4 days, keep it at more beneficial temp for 2 days till you observe white spot going away then cut back gradually back decrease back to typical over a era of three/4 days. It cured it for the mollies. per chance in case you google the thanks to attend to whitespot you may discover out extra