Grrr! Ich! How much salt can small tetras tolerate?
Recently had an Ich outbreak in my 55 gallon, planted aquarium. What really gets my goat is that I quarantined the new fish for 2 weeks before adding them to the tank! They were clear last night, then BAM! The black neon has it fairly bad, and a few of the neons have it on their caudal fins.
Water parameters are as follows:
pH 6.6
Nitrates: 0 (heavily planted, expecting this to rise a bit without CO2 and lighting)
Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
What I have done so far is:
Raised the temp on the heater. Waiting for it to kick in before I change it again. Current temp is 80f. I’m shooting for around 82-84
Stopped the CO2 injection for the plants.
Added 27 drops of Quick Cure (half dose because they’re tetras)
Switched the bubble stone so it will run all the time instead of only when the light is off.
Waiting for the CO2 to get removed from the water before I kill the light.
The only thing I haven’t done is add salt because I’m not 100% sure on how much salt tetras can tolerate. I know they can handle some, just not sure how much. I’m 100% sure it’s Ich, but in case you don’t believe me, the effected fish have small, white bumps on their fins and body that look like grains of salt. The bumps are slightly raised and are not fuzzy. No major signs of stress. The only fish that are currently effected are the ones I moved out of quarantine last night. Probably had some of the parasites in the water from the pet store and the stress of the acclimation and move from quarantine sparked the outbreak. None of the water from the quarantine tank was placed in the 55g. I netted the fish and moved them that way. Used the drip method to acclimate.
So, how much salt can I safely add to the tetra tank?
I consider the plants to be expendable. It would suck to kill them, but I’d rather have plants die than fish.
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about 6 tablespoons..
In my experience and in the experience of many others, the hands-down best approach is the heat and salt method. Slowly raise your temperature to 86-88 F and add 1-2 Tbs of aquarium salt to your tank per five gallons. The heat speeds up the life cycle, and most ich strains cannot survive in 86 and above degrees. The salt affects the osmotic process and causes the little ich to burst… and the salt also induces the slime coating on the fish to protect them against the ich.
Alas, salt is as bad for plants as meds.