Thursday, March 11, 2010

How do I do a salt bath for my fish with whitespot?

A couple of my fish have started with white spot. I know that by now it's too late to prevent it and it'll probably spread to most of my other fish.





I heard a quick salt bath could help. as well as raised temperature. I don't want to alter the salinity in my tropical aquarium as I have apple snails and a couple of other delicate fish in there and I don't think they'd take too kindly to salt!





So, how do I do a salt bath? I have the salt. How long do I need to leave them in it? I have to clean the gravel so taking them out of the tank would be easier anyway.How do I do a salt bath for my fish with whitespot?
Nearly all tropical fish can benefit from having some salt in their water. I think this goes without saying, but just to make sure we're on the same page, make sure you purchase freshwater aquarium salt (not seasalt, not salt from the grocery store etc. - it's not the same thing). When you buy the salt it should tell you how much to put in, but the kind I have is one tablespoon per 5 gallons. The salt helps inhibit parasite growth, and (arguably) may inhibit uptake or toxic substances such as nitrate by the fish. We put that much salt in all of our freshwater aquariums at the pet store where I work.





Now, on to the white spots. If they're just on the fins, it's probably Ick, while if it's all over the body, it's probably White Velvet. These two conditions are treated the same way. The salt as I described above can help to prevent future infestations, and it may reduce the spread of the current infection, but it won't eliminate the current problem. For best results, your best bet would be to go with a safe Ick medication. The one we use where I work is called (quite simply) Ick Guard, and it's made by Jungle. We use it on Ick or Velvet in any of our freshwater tanks, and it's safe for any fish (as well as snails etc.). It's used every other day with a water 25% water change on the in between days until the spots are gone. Usually we only have to give 2-3 treatments.





If the Ick/Velvet is bad, it often leads to a secondary infection. If the fish look like their fins/tails are sort of ripped up, or if you notice some fuzzy stuff on the fish, that's probably thanks to a fungal infection. The Ick med will not take care of that, and it will have to be treated by an antibiotic. We use tetracycline, which can be used simultaneously with the Ick Guard. The tetracycline is also safe for whatever other critters happen to be in there as well.





Whatever you decide to so, I hope your fish recover well. Good luck!





EDIT: Just another tip, make sure you take out the carbon insert if you have one in your filter while you're administering any medication to your fish, as the carbon will make them ineffective.





Also, I'm not sure if snails get white spot. I'm 99% sure that they don't, but even if they did, the meds would take care of it. If they don't get it the meds won't hurt them, so you're fine either way.How do I do a salt bath for my fish with whitespot?
They sell ';Ick Medicine'; to add to the water in the better fish-oriented pet stores. From my experience, once they get Ick it's hard to cure them. The best thing is to prevent it. I've never heard of a salt bath, and I would think that would be detrimental to the fish...
ok do you have another tank?


I can help you rid your tank and protect your fish from this. But only if you have another tank...if not you need to go along the chemical route. If you do have a spare tank email me and I will tell you exactly what you need to do.
A salt bath will not cure ich. You can simply raise the temperature and increase the aeration and let the heat kill the ich.
I don't recommend you to do a salt bath on your poor fish as sometime may worsen the condition of the sick fish.





Don't worry I know the best solution for your problem.I'm not going to get into detail about this





ICH / WHITE SPOT DISEASE





Firstly, go to your fish retailer shop ask for ICH medicine .The medicine may come in tablet or solution.





Later just add the medicine in your fish tank according to the amount or dossage required and don't,t take other fish in the tank out as they might have the disease as well.





Lastly ,change the water after 2-3 day and repeat the procedure above until the fish 100% recovered.





It is optional to keep the filter in and out but I think is better out and try to change the water 25% after 1-2 days and repeat the procedure like I mention above.





This also happened before to my platy, guppies and also goldfish sometimes may happen to Betta as well but later they recovered using the method above.





Better act quick if not your fish may die as this is a deathly disease and don't try to put ';ADDITIONAL';salt in it as it may make the situation worse.





Important, next time don't forget to change the water in tank 2-3 times a month and don't put foreing object in the tank to minimise the fish from disease.





Hope my answer has help you and your poor FISHES.
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