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smallmouth bass with ich


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#1 Guest_osbornj_*

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Posted 01 March 2007 - 09:02 PM

I've got six yearling smallmouth bass, and they all have ich. I'd like to use temperature, aquarium salt, and a commercial ich-care product to treat this. I'd like input on these two things:

a) How much salt is too much? I'm holding them in ~1.6mg/ml (2 Tbsp per 5 gal).

b) Has anyone had success eradicating ich from SMB with a specific product? If so, what product?

Thanks for the input!

-Josh

#2 Guest_teleost_*

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Posted 01 March 2007 - 09:34 PM

Welcome Josh.

I'd be willing to bet your fish don't have ich. Many things look like ich but aren't.

2 TBSP per 5 gallons is good in my opinion. I would not go any higher than 2.5 TBSP per 5 gallons if at all possible. In fact I'm shocked that this alone has not dealt with your problem. How long have you had the fish at this salt level? What are your water parameters (nitrates in particular)?

I'd advise you not treat with ich med's until you work on a couple of other things first.

Of all the ich like problems I've had, none have actually turned out to be ich. Salt and water changes have cured my problem each and every time.

#3 Guest_hmt321_*

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Posted 01 March 2007 - 10:13 PM

I have cured Ich or ich like illness 3 times in the past. the last time i did not use meds, I used heat and salt

Heat - from what people have told me and from what i can read speeds up the ich's life cycle

salt- causes the slime coat to increase which in effect helps to shed ich and other parasites.

the idea is to speed up the ich's life cycle so it goes faster, ich can only infest a fish during one part of its life cycle. the salt will help the fish resist the ich during this time, after 10-12 days with out seeing any white spots you are done and can return the tank to its normal temp.

the last tank i treated had sailfin shiners and red spot sunfish, i cranked the temp up to 84 f over 4 days, added 2 tble spns of aquarium salt per gal,
I ran an airstone during that time (the tank was heavily planted, watch your O2 sat with high temps)
the results were very fast, by 3rd day or so of high temps the ich was gone. I have not had a relaps in that tank.

I did do several 50% WC during those 2 weeks i was treating the tank, about 6 or so, (like mon, wed, fri, for 2 weeks)

my 2 cents

#4 Guest_smbass_*

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Posted 01 March 2007 - 11:19 PM

Welcome Josh, good to see I convinced one of my lab mates that this site was worth while... Anyways look around and hope you find some of the discussions useful or atleast interesting. I agree with these guys on amount of salt and use the medication as a last resort.

#5 Guest_osbornj_*

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Posted 02 March 2007 - 11:02 AM

I have cured Ich or ich like illness 3 times in the past. the last time i did not use meds, I used heat and salt

Heat - from what people have told me and from what i can read speeds up the ich's life cycle

salt- causes the slime coat to increase which in effect helps to shed ich and other parasites.

the idea is to speed up the ich's life cycle so it goes faster, ich can only infest a fish during one part of its life cycle. the salt will help the fish resist the ich during this time, after 10-12 days with out seeing any white spots you are done and can return the tank to its normal temp.

the last tank i treated had sailfin shiners and red spot sunfish, i cranked the temp up to 84 f over 4 days, added 2 tble spns of aquarium salt per gal,
I ran an airstone during that time (the tank was heavily planted, watch your O2 sat with high temps)
the results were very fast, by 3rd day or so of high temps the ich was gone. I have not had a relaps in that tank.

I did do several 50% WC during those 2 weeks i was treating the tank, about 6 or so, (like mon, wed, fri, for 2 weeks)

my 2 cents




Thanks for your input. I noticed that you said you treated with 2 TBSP/Gal, though, rather than the same amount of salt per 5 Gal. I just wanted to be sure that this is correct.

#6 Guest_osbornj_*

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Posted 02 March 2007 - 11:24 AM

Welcome Josh, good to see I convinced one of my lab mates that this site was worth while... Anyways look around and hope you find some of the discussions useful or atleast interesting. I agree with these guys on amount of salt and use the medication as a last resort.


This forum seemed an obvious choice; where else am I going to find out how to treat SMB (aside from asking you)? :smile: Anyway, thanks for the welcome.

#7 Guest_osbornj_*

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Posted 02 March 2007 - 11:30 AM

Welcome Josh.

I'd be willing to bet your fish don't have ich. Many things look like ich but aren't.

2 TBSP per 5 gallons is good in my opinion. I would not go any higher than 2.5 TBSP per 5 gallons if at all possible. In fact I'm shocked that this alone has not dealt with your problem. How long have you had the fish at this salt level? What are your water parameters (nitrates in particular)?

I'd advise you not treat with ich med's until you work on a couple of other things first.

Of all the ich like problems I've had, none have actually turned out to be ich. Salt and water changes have cured my problem each and every time.



Thank you for your reponse!

I'll check on the nitrates; what range is best for my needs?

I've only had the fish at that salt concentration for 48-72 hours; I was mostly asking to see how high I can go.

#8 Guest_teleost_*

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Posted 02 March 2007 - 01:33 PM

I'll check on the nitrates; what range is best for my needs?

Each fish is different but 10-20 (or as low as possible) is ideal for keeping sunfish healthy. In my experience sunfish can be surprisingly sensitive to nitrates (especially Basses). I don't keep any of the basses at the moment but I've read countless complaints of them suffering in the home aquaria due to water parameters. Much more common that a typical Lepomis sunfish.

I've only had the fish at that salt concentration for 48-72 hours; I was mostly asking to see how high I can go.


I'd say you can actually go much higher on a temporary basis BUT 2 Tablespoons per 5 gallons should be a maximum initial concentration. I might be a chicken but I usually ease into 2 Tablespoons per gallon over a week if it's not a critical situation. After you reach 2 Tablespoons per gallon I would only add a very small amount extra daily or with each water change. I would also take the same steps when reducing the salt level (again I'm a chicken). This is just my opinion so take it with a grain of salt.

#9 Guest_hmt321_*

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Posted 02 March 2007 - 06:45 PM

Thanks for your input. I noticed that you said you treated with 2 TBSP/Gal, though, rather than the same amount of salt per 5 Gal. I just wanted to be sure that this is correct.


making me doubt myself here, i dug out my work notebook (I write down stuff there), and I have 2t = gal I can't really remember if it was tble, or tsp now, probably tsp, there would not be a set amount, you just want to stimulate the slime coat into overdrive for a short period of time


I think there are 3 tsp in 1 tble sp,

so the dose is not so far off,

2 tsp per gal = 3 tble spoons per 5 gal or there about i think




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