How long to leave water heated when trying to fight ich with just eat and salt?

Question

I had three lemon tetras in a recently cycled tank. My readings all looked great, so, a week ago, I added five blue tetras. Instant Ich in three of the five blues. So I slowly turned up the heat and added salt, which has killed my plants, but the fish seem to be doing well. No more new cases of Ich; only one fish still has the spots. I would really rather not use medications if I can avoid it, as I keep freshwater shrimp. (I hadn't added them to this tank yet because it had finished cycling too recently, but I would like to down the road.)

When I discovered the ich in the tank, I immediately got paranoid and turned to the tank I had seeded it from. I was sure I saw a couple of white spots, so I turned up the heat and started adding salt. The next morning I couldn't find more than one fish with even the possibility of a spot. So I am not at all certain that there is ich in the second tank, but I am not sure how to determine if the tank is infected after all.

Question should read : Heat and Salt, but it won't let me edit it for some reason :-P

Answer 1

You should keep the heat to above 88F for at least 5 days past the time you see the last spot of ich. At this temperature the ich's life cycle is vastly sped up and will complete in 2 days or less. Additionally, temperatures over 85 damage the ichs ability to reproduce while temperatures about 87.5F will do that as well as kill some of the ich tomites. Treating with heat and salt is slower than using medications, but it is a very good method that is far less stressful to the fish and as you mention the inverts in a tank.

Generally speaking ich is present in very low levels in some tanks, however, once a tank is well treated for ich and nothing new has been added it will remain ich free. It is entirely possible to completely kill all of the ich in a tank.

MM

Answer 2

The ich organism has a two week life-cycle. Try finding the right name for the organism and the get on your favorite search engine and look into the life cycle. The organisms are untreatable when they are in their reproductive cycle, so many fish keepers think they have cured the problem only to have it return even stronger at the end of two weeks. Turning up the heat causes hatching that renders them treatable, but they can continue hatching for the entire two week period.
Very sorry about your plants,but you did what you had to do.

This answer is incomplete,
at best,but a full understanding of the organisms life-cycle is what's required.
Also understand that the ich bug is always present in aquaria and can never be entirely removed.

Answer 3

Smart. I believe the same way, don't medicate the tank.
Two weeks is your answer. Lower the temp by 2 degees per day until you get ideal. Salt and heat both tanks, it won't hurt your fish. Seeding tanks one to another is a smart way to avoid the new tank syndrome. Way to go for doing it right and doing your homework!

Answer 4

a few days after the last spot has gone. then return to normal temp. How 'bout putting the sick fish in a hospital tank?