Hi!
Just a quick question. I was reading about the salt and heat method for my GSP because I think he may have ich. However if he does have it, it appears mild. I can only see one white spot/flake on him. Would the salt and heat method be appropriate for him or should I just leave him alone? I should mention he is in the freshwater stage right now with some aquarium salt added, he is about 1.25-1.5 inches. I currently have a tank cycling for him at which point I will introduce him to some salt gradually.
Thank you!
Is Salt & Heat Method appropriate for my GSP?
Forum rules
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
-
J-P
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 5626
- Joined: Tue Oct 13, 2009 12:21 am
- Gender: Male
- Location (country): Japan
- Location: Sasebo, Nagasaki, Japan
Re: Is Salt & Heat Method appropriate for my GSP?
at the top of this page are some questions in red that need to be answered first.
Second... is it just a spot? what behavior is it showing?
Second... is it just a spot? what behavior is it showing?
if you follow me, you avoid stepping in the crap that I just did...
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZR55G ... pqlgec1A2Q
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZR55G ... pqlgec1A2Q
-
Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32987
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Puffers I have kept:
T lineatus
T miurus
A modestus
T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
C lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Greenville, SC
- Contact:
Re: Is Salt & Heat Method appropriate for my GSP?
![[welcome]](./images/smilies/welcome.gif "welcome")
He should be in BW anyway, so use the heat & large WC (80% every other day while thoroughly cleaning substrate) method, in BW.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
-
lex72
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2011 11:10 am
- Gender: Female
- Location (country): Morgantown, WV
Re: Is Salt & Heat Method appropriate for my GSP?
J-P, it is hard for me to answer these questions, I wasn't exactly prepared for my puffers. The owner of the petstore that I trust totally gave me wrong information about the care of GSPs and I had to collect all information on my own (eg, he told me they didn't excrete a lot of ammonia and that I could just give them flakes, just add aquarium salt, etc)
1) water paramters - I only have the test strips with color code indicators at this time (can you recommend a good testing kit that is not expensive?); so therefore all I can tell you is that the water parameters are fine...sorry
2)20 gallon tank with 4 very young GSPs (yes I know this tank is too small; thanks petstore guy...sure 4 GSPs in a 20 gallon will be fine...); currently cycling 75 gallon tank I was lucky to find for a good price.
3) -they are being fed daily with one day off (brine shrimp, crickets, seaweed although they do not like it, just got some mini mealworms but haven't given them yet, tried to get ghost shrimp I was going to gut load but petco had only 2 big guys)
-50% water change every other day - 2 days; adding water conditioner and aquarium salt
4) no changes to the tank, except water changes, obvi
5)aquarium has been set up for a month before we added GSPs; fishless cycle
just one white spot flake, very tiny like a piece of dandruff; normal behavior, nothing out of the ordinary, eating etc.
Pufferpunk-so should I be following the salt guidelines in that post or would that be too much salt considering they are not used to it?
1) water paramters - I only have the test strips with color code indicators at this time (can you recommend a good testing kit that is not expensive?); so therefore all I can tell you is that the water parameters are fine...sorry
2)20 gallon tank with 4 very young GSPs (yes I know this tank is too small; thanks petstore guy...sure 4 GSPs in a 20 gallon will be fine...); currently cycling 75 gallon tank I was lucky to find for a good price.
3) -they are being fed daily with one day off (brine shrimp, crickets, seaweed although they do not like it, just got some mini mealworms but haven't given them yet, tried to get ghost shrimp I was going to gut load but petco had only 2 big guys)
-50% water change every other day - 2 days; adding water conditioner and aquarium salt
4) no changes to the tank, except water changes, obvi
5)aquarium has been set up for a month before we added GSPs; fishless cycle
just one white spot flake, very tiny like a piece of dandruff; normal behavior, nothing out of the ordinary, eating etc.
Pufferpunk-so should I be following the salt guidelines in that post or would that be too much salt considering they are not used to it?
-
lex72
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2011 11:10 am
- Gender: Female
- Location (country): Morgantown, WV
Re: Is Salt & Heat Method appropriate for my GSP?
I just got home and checked on all of them...the one that had the white spot/flake/crumb no longer has it. They are all swimming around pretty happy and eating...going to do a 75% water change later this evening...what else? should i raise the temp and add table salt?
-
bertie 83
- Moderator
- Posts: 5298
- Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2011 4:28 pm
- Gender: Male
- My Puffers: lineatus R.I.P, South American puffer. Valentini puffer, porcupine puffer.
Non puffer
Danios, Tetras, Redtail Rasporas,
Harlequins, CAE's, Yoyo
Loaches, Clown loaches ,Eels, various shrimp, tangs,wrasses, damsels, chromis - Location (country): Brighton, England
- Location: brighton , england
Re: Is Salt & Heat Method appropriate for my GSP?
I would return 2. 4 is far to many for a 75 I believe. By raising the salinity to the appropriate level the ich should be killed, raise no more than .002 per week or you will kill your bacteria. Or drip acclimate to a higher sg and go straight to marine. Just not with 4 unless you want a bigger tank, 2 in a 55 is far too tight
It's amazing how easy maintenance is. If done regularly and thoroughly
-
sevenyearnight
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 1894
- Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2011 2:41 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: T. nigroviridis
Balki Bartokomous - Location (country): USA
- Location: South Carolina
Re: Is Salt & Heat Method appropriate for my GSP?
Do you have a sand substrate? Is there anything in the tank that could have just been stuck to him?
I'd not feed meal-worms, the exoskeleton is a bit tough to digest and it could lodge in their intestines and/or stop up their poopers.
I'd not feed meal-worms, the exoskeleton is a bit tough to digest and it could lodge in their intestines and/or stop up their poopers.
-
Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32987
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Puffers I have kept:
T lineatus
T miurus
A modestus
T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
C lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Greenville, SC
- Contact:
Re: Is Salt & Heat Method appropriate for my GSP?
I'd move all or some (the ones you're keeping) to the 75g.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
-
lex72
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2011 11:10 am
- Gender: Female
- Location (country): Morgantown, WV
Re: Is Salt & Heat Method appropriate for my GSP?
sevenyearnight-no sand substrate, i really don't have anything small like that that could be sticking to him. ok, no mealworms...any other suggestions for now? feeding crickets and brine shrimp, they are not liking the seaweed.
-
Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32987
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Puffers I have kept:
T lineatus
T miurus
A modestus
T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
C lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Greenville, SC
- Contact:
Re: Is Salt & Heat Method appropriate for my GSP?
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
-
sevenyearnight
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 1894
- Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2011 2:41 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: T. nigroviridis
Balki Bartokomous - Location (country): USA
- Location: South Carolina
Re: Is Salt & Heat Method appropriate for my GSP?
My little dude eats mostly pond and Ramshorn snails, earthworms, and occasionally some squid, scallop, and bloodworms. I soak the latter 3 in Vitachem and Selcon.
-
lex72
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2011 11:10 am
- Gender: Female
- Location (country): Morgantown, WV
Re: Is Salt & Heat Method appropriate for my GSP?
Thanks everyone! So when I got up this morning one puffer has 3 spots of ich on him. Guess I will start the salt and heat method when I'm off work. Just one more question, should I treat all of them just in case or just quarantine the one guy and treat him? 
Re: Is Salt & Heat Method appropriate for my GSP?
Treat all of them. It's safe for the fish and they are likely infected too. The parasite primarily affects the gills and doesn't move to the rest of the body until there is no real estate left on the gills. Just because the others aren't showing signs doesn't mean they don't have it.
It is absurd to talk of one animal being higher than another. We consider those, when the cerebral structure/intellectual faculties most developed, as highest. A bee doubtless would when the instincts were.
Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin