Med and Salt together to treat ich?

[freshyyf]

I am a new beginner in fish raising. I got the ich problem two weeks ago. I had been putting malachite green since then but the ich comes and go. One fish showed the symptom and faded two days ago. Then, another fish rubbed its body and so on. I think the med is not that effective. So, I would like to try on the salt method. The question is that the water in my aquarium now contains med, so can I just add in salt or I need to do a water change to get rid of the water with med first? Or can I combine the two treatment? By the way, my water temperature is about 80 F.

Besides ich and velvet, what can cause the fish to rub their body? Stress? Water quality?

Please help. Much appreciated.

 

[twoluvcats]

no, you can't do salt/heat with meds in the tank. carbon out the meds for 12-24hrs first...its not really mixing the salt that's the problem, its meds and high temps that are bad. here's a great article on salt/heat ich treatment: http://cichlid-forum.com/articles/ich.php

How old is your tank, has it been cycled? Ich can be a 'cycling disease' in a new tank...so if your water parameters are not stable, you won't get rid of the ich. I was plauged with Ich while my tank was cycling...stopped trying to treat the ich (and yes I lost a few fish) and started focusing more on getting my tank cycled and POOF, ich went away.

 

[revfred]

After many years I've found the most effective ich med to be Kordon's Rid-Ich+. Just follow the mfrs. directions to the letter.

 

[fishfloater]

I started seeing sign of ick this past weekend. I just picked up some salt, air pump, and an air stone. I am going to start the treatment tonight.

uhg, I forgot to pick up a vacuum for the gravel.

 

[freshyyf]

Ok, thanks. That is really helpful. One more question: If I use salt, can I add in other aquarium chemicals, such as EasyBalance which reduces the nitrate level?

 

[Lotus]

It shouldn't cause a problem, but I would recommend water changes instead of "snake oil" cures.