The Puffer Forum

My SAPs have come down with Ich (90% certain from a plant introduction, dangitall), and salt/heat treatment hasn't worked. I did 1tsp/gallon and 85 degrees for 4 days, and then upped to 1.5tsp/g for another 10 with no results: they're still flashing and salted-looking. They were looking tremendously stressed even with the addition of an airstone, so I brought the temp back down to 83. The only thing I seem to have achieved is melting most of the plants in my tank.

Should I be using more salt? I'm loathe to crank the temperature up again. I also have on hand a couple Ich medications that I've used previously in my cichlid tank, would any be appropriate for puffers? I have malachite green, and 1-chloro-2,2,5,5-tetramethyl-4-imidazolidinone (tetra all-in-one).

Thanks for any help.

The questions:
1) pH-8.0 Ammonia-0 Nitrite-0 Nitrate-5
2) 40 gallons, 3 SAPs, Eheim 250 filter
3) I feed pond snails every other or 3rd day, do 25% water changes 2x/week (I've been doing 25% daily while trying to kick the ich), currently using salt
4) the only change is the plant that I added (and now I've melted the stupid thing as well as infected my fish. ./grump)
5) the tank has been running for about a year, cycled way back with filter media from my guppy tank.

SAPs are also quite prone to velvet. Are you sure it's not that? Although treatment is the same. Are you doing 890% WC thoroughly vacuuming the substrate every other day?

Gravel vaccuuming religiously, I want these buggers GONE. I haven't seen velvet in person before, but from a googling it looks more like ich to me. I'll see if I can get one of them to be still long enough for a picture.