Topic: will ich cure hurt my snail?

[SteveK]

I lost 3 rainbows over night, the medicine went in today, we'll see how they look tomorrow.  I gave 6 of the severums a salt bath, that helped some.

I have never heard the no light thing, but my plants would hate me if I did it, I have always heard 3 days for medicine, but maybe it is stronger.  Just make sure you gravel vac to get the dead ick and the eggs that haave fallen off

[Scorpio]

  Sorry to hear about the rainbows.   That sucks.  I hope the meds work for others.  
BTW, how do you give a fish a bath?  I've heard of salt baths before, but not how to do it, or what effect it has.

[Mushi]

BTW, how do you give a fish a bath?  I've heard of salt baths before, but not how to do it, or what effect it has.

to do a salt bath you want to add about 1 tbsp of rock/aquarium salt per gallon to a container.  float your fish in it to stabilize the temperatures (unless you know they're the same temperature) and then put the fish into the salt/water container for about 15-20 minutes.  then remove the fish and place it back into its hospital tank or other clean water.

i don't think salt baths would be particularly effective with ick unless you get the ick right at the stage where the cysts are falling off.  normally i use salt baths for cases of fungus, or bacterial infections such as severe fin rot.

[Scorpio]

to do a salt bath you want to add about 1 tbsp of rock/aquarium salt per gallon to a container....then put the fish into the salt/water container for about 15-20 minutes.

That's really interesting. Can you do that with pretty much any fish, or do some not do well with the salt bath?  

[shtinkypuppie]

You can pull off a salt bath with anyone, yes, but you have to vary the concentration. I'm not sure who you're working on, but catfish like ottos, plecos, and cory cats, along with similarly scaleless fish like loaches, have a quite low tolerance for salt; although they'll probably stand up to 1 tablespoon per gallon, you may want to step back some. Tetras aren't fond of it, but will tolerate it much better than catfish. Cichlids that  like hard water generally have a  higher salt tolerance, while those that like soft water like Angelfish are lower. Goldfish, bettas, danios, and other cyprinids have exteremely high tolerances. I've given my goldfish a 24 teaspoon/gallon salt bath before.

[SteveK]

I put a TON of salt in there (I don't measure), it is supersatured.  I use tank water so it is the same temp.  I then put the severums in for about 10 seconds.

BTW, it was ick but had turned developed cacterial and clamped fins.  They are just about cured, there are only a few dots left of ick.  That aquarisol worked fast!!!

[Scorpio]

Wow, SteveK, I'm really glad to hear that worked for you! :happy:  I'm glad to know about the salt bath too.
Was going to rattle off my problem here, but it's long enough for its own post! Yikes!

[SteveK]

I always feel bad for the fish after a salt bath, but about an hour later they look good.  I don't think I would try it on small fish, the severums are pretty big

[Scorpio]

This is a censored site...and yeah, it's a hoot!!!  LOL

[SteveK]

lol, cracks me up everytime