My goldfish have ick and I don't feel comfortable using the salt treatment?

Question

I just bought 3 goldfish the other day, all of which were fine except one which had a fish lice on it which I removed and treated. Now I'm noticing ick developing, and it might be from the change of tanks, but I'm sure it's from the stress of the parasite. I looked online and found out that the ick treatment I bought for my last goldfish only kills what's fallen to the tank, not what's on them. I don't want my fish to die again! I read about the salt treatment, where you dilute and put 3 teaspoons of salt per every gallon, and as an example they said that would be 30 tspns for 10 gallons (what I have). They say it's a treatment for goldfish but this doesn't sound right! I don't want to kill my fish by adding salt to their water, but I don't want them to die of ick either. I need confirmation that the salt treatment is safe for goldfish, that just seems like a lot of salt to put in 10 gallons!

source :
http://thegab.org/Articles/IchSaltTreatment.html

Answer 1

You could do a few thing to fight ich.

The easiest method would be to buy white spot medication an dose as instructed. Make sure that it's filter friendly.

The other is to use add a concentration of 0.03% salt (3g per litre). Fishes have to be keep in this concentration until the white spots symptom disappears. This concentration will not cause problem for the goldfishes.

Lastly you could slowly increase the temperature of the tank to 31 degrees C and keep it there for a week. At this temperature the reproduction of the ich parasite will halt.

Large water change on alternate days will also disrupt the ich reproduction cycle as you will be removing large amount of tomont and theronts (different stages of the parasite) during the water change. This will reduce the parasites within the system for you to manage.

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Answer 2

It could be from the changing tanks, or like you said the parasite. Usually when fish get stressed-for whatever reason, that's when diseases and parasites tend to show up. I prefer the salt and heat method, though that salt dosage seems a bit high. I've seen a few methods mentioned, but I would say 1 tablespoon per gallon is sufficient. Also, you should slowly raise the tank temperature to about 78-80 F. This speeds up the ich life cycle, because like you mentioned, they can only be killed during their free swimming stage. Or, you could try some meds like Quick Cure, they usually work fairly good as well. If you use the salt method, be sure to dissolve it first in a bucket of water. And, keep in mind salt is only removed from the water during water changes. Evaporation does not remove salt. And, you'll want to be sure to treat for at least 3-4 weeks with whatever treatment option you use.

Answer 3

The salt treatment is perfectly safe for goldfish, even sensitive ones. I have a Black Moor and a fantail goldfish and have used the salt treatment for both ich and fungus. Salt speeds up healing and helps slough off some of the slime coating, which in turn sloughs off external disease. The dosage I've heard is one tablespoon of salt for every five gallons, meaning you would only use two tablespoons. You'll need to hurry and treat your fish, though.

Answer 4

here is some more info
http://www.kokosgoldfish.com/Ich.html

Hope that helps
Good luck


EB