The Puffer Forum

Pufferpunk wrote:I would be VERY careful using any ich med on a scaleless fish. Why not use the salt method?

i know im really REALLY worried. i do not want to lose a fish. ive been doing constant water changes, a bit of salt, and a tiny amount of ich meds. i also have plants and snails that the ich meds will hit hard. the last thing i want is another death in the family. we just had an unhealthy batch of kittens and two died.

Aww that's awful I'm sorry to hear that!

I've had success with herbal ich attack, it's brown and stinky and it's safe for anything sensitive. But the most important thing is that it worked too. This was in a heavily planted tank with snails. All of the fish recovered with no losses.
I was really suspicious of it working, but I couldn't use salt or chemicals because of the plants, and I was afraid of how the plecos would deal with the salt.

A bit of salt will not do. Use 1 tbsp/10g. If you use a med at a lower dosage than recommended, the pathogen will become immune to the med, when you may really need it.

sevenyearnight wrote:Aww that's awful I'm sorry to hear that!

I've had success with herbal ich attack, it's brown and stinky and it's safe for anything sensitive. But the most important thing is that it worked too. This was in a heavily planted tank with snails. All of the fish recovered with no losses.
I was really suspicious of it working, but I couldn't use salt or chemicals because of the plants, and I was afraid of how the plecos would deal with the salt.

hmmm that sounds like a reasonable option than!!! but ive never heard of anyone else using this stuff, or even heard of it to be honest... anyone else have any luck with the stuff???? it has gotten slightly worse in the last few days. havent been home. very poor timing as im dealing with my sisters wedding right now

If you can use salt, then go that route, like if you can remove the plants. I think Srkoe has also used the brown stinky stuff.

weve always had really good luck with ICH Guard 2, its never harmed any of our loaches, puffers, snails or catfish.....cant say anything for the plants though....(we dont have any real ones, lol)

alright thanks for all the input. im definitely looking into all of the options. i may be too far gone with the salt and heat method now. im doing constant water changes (every day about 30 percent) and really hoping it kind of works itself through as i add very small amounts of ich treatment and salt. i dont really have anywhere else to put my plants as my gsp tank is brackish. also the snails would be affected by the salt. should i give up on the salt???

Be careful with the heat, ich attacks the gills primarily and heated water holds less oxygen, they may not be able to get enough oxygen and pass on.

I've used the heat and salt method in planted tanks without any harm to the plants. If we have ich again then that's what I'll be doing with no worry about my plants. I just did this a few weeks ago with a discus that was breathing heavily. Treating for ich even though there were no external signs was one of our attempts to get him healthy.

If you're worried about oxygen content then you can increase surface movement or add an airstone.