Aquari-Sol for ich?

[DrKennethNoisewater]

hey i just thought id make a thread in the right section as to my issues rather than hijacking my own thread of pictures of my catfish! alright heres the deal. i seen this at big als today

http://www.amazon.com/Aquarium-Products ... B001GIGP6S

just wondering if anyone has any experience with this as i dont want to get ripped off...(again)

i have lots of snails, plants, and sensitive fish. like the one pictured, poor guy.

one more note: not doing the salt and heat method. thanks in advance.

[sevenyearnight]

This says online it's copper based, and snails and some catfish are sensitive to copper.

[Reaperpilot2014]

I really like Ich Attack. It is herbal, and has always served me well, never harming my plants or invertebrates. It turns the water brown, but that's easily taken care of with carbon and water changes.

Other medications do work, but they are very hard on your scaleless fish like puffers and cats. I've found the best way to get rid of ich to be heat, salt, and ich attack.

There's a great article on curing ich in the library section.

[sevenyearnight]

I'm fairly certain that petsmart or petco will have that herbal ich attack.

[Reaperpilot2014]

They both do everywhere I've lived. It's generally around $12.

[DrKennethNoisewater]

okay perfect. thanks to both of you. i will go to a petsmart tomorrow. i figured big als was a better choice as its a giant superstore dedicated strictly to aquariums and terrariums. oh well.. i guess im off to a petsmart tomorrow morning.

[Reaperpilot2014]

Let us know how it goes!

[RTR]

Why not salt and heat?

It is simple and effective.

Copper is a poison at those levels, NIMFT, ever.

[Pufferpunk]

It seems that you have turned many off from the heat method. Maybe you could reiterate this method?

[sevenyearnight]

Yes, I agree with PP. I'm not comfortable suggesting something that you said can make the fish unable to get enough oxygen regardless of how aerated the water is. I'd feel like surlaW if that happened to someone. I also don't know which catfish are intolerant to salt, so I don't feel comfortable suggesting salt not knowing which catfish it will most likely do more harm than good.

[J-P]

just my 2 cents.. no tank with inverts should be treated with copper... save that for the QT tank and dips.

[RTR]

Really?

Salt and heat for FW Ich:

1. Increase temperature to 80F -84F. Ich is principally a temperate zone gill parasite and fish may have issues getting enough O2 in warmer water. Start at 80F and if there are no signs of respiratory distress (labored breathing and/or hanging at the surface), increase to 84F.

2. Add 1 level measuring teaspoon per US gallon of salt (ordinary table salt) to some removed tank water, mix well to dissolve and add it back to the tank in the path o the filter outflow or other current. This can be done while the tank is warming up. If there are no signs of distress (as in #1 above), after 12-24 hours add another 1/2 teaspoon per gallon in the same way. Do not use "aquarium salt" as that has no legal definition.

3. Both salt and heat interfere with the division/reproduction of the parasite (the stage after the parasite falls off the fish and rests on the substrate or decor. It is effectively invisible at this stage). At and above 80F, the life cycle is ~3 days total. Therefore you need to hold at the elevated temp approximately 10 days (or at least 3 life cycles).

4. Some to many folks like to vacuum and partial daily during the elevated temperature period. If you do this, the make-up water must have the 1.5 teaspoons per gallon of salt pre-dissolved in it, and it must be at the same temp as the tank before it is added to the tank.

5. At the end of the 10 days, reduce the temperature to your normal operating level.

6. The salt is diluted out by water partials after the ten days are over. Routine 50% partials will effectively remove it after 4 partials. These may be done daily if it is desired to get back to normal operational levels more quickly (I do). At least the first 50% partial should be done immediately after the end of the treatment. After one 50 partial, the salt is down to 3/4 tsp/gal. After two 50% partials it is down to 3/8 tsp/ga. After tree partials it is down to 3/16 tsp/gal and after 4 partial is down tp 3/32 tsp/gal or effectively undetectable.

Nota Bene: The disappearance of parasite lesions from the visible surface of the fish does not mean the parasite is gone. It is a gill parasitre, and if not cleared by the full 10-day treatment it may persist chronically in the gills.

HTH

[bertie 83]

Probably the best/ most straight forward description of the salt/heat method i have seen, no waffle and to the point. Thankyou rtr.

[Flutter]

I use the heat and salt method. Easy, harmless, and cheap

In general, a lot of people think that herbal and all natural things are safe and that's really far from the truth.

I've heard it time and time again (especially with horse supplements). Personally, I can tolerate any 'chemicals' without an issue, nothing bothers me. On the other hand, I don't do well with some natural products as they contain marigold. I am allergic to marigolds and contact with them is extremely painful for me. These products are not inherently safe. While camping more than a month ago I came in contact with wild parsnip or giant hogweed. Extremely painful, decently scarred, and my skin is still too sensitive for me to go into the sun. Still.

My other issue is that things without medication/'chemicals' have no regulations. There isn't a governing body that watches over things, there's no quality control, and no guaranteed analysis. You really don't know what you're getting and it's likely that every batch is different.

I expect a guaranteed analysis for many things. Anything medicinal is one of them.

[sevenyearnight]

waffle!!