Heater and Lumpy Salt replaced drugs completely as Fish Meds

[abartar]

I think we all do this mistake (so called) of buying the medicines when we start this hobby. LFS always promote medicines along with the other accessories that we buy initially. Infact they sell it as one of the must to keep with your new aquariums. I had bought (rather sold to me) blue (methylene blue), yellow (general aid) medicines along with my first fish tank. Finally these med got expired and were thrown.

I feel it is equally important to have a quarantine tank to keep the new stock for few days to observe of any ailments or to acclimatise them.

[Aqua Gardenz]

Nice topic... I have treated many diseases same way.. I mostly avoid using med's but some times they have to be used..

[juanico]

how to handle salt+temperature for fish which need a temp of max 26C?
can you still increase it to 30C+?

[bmukh]

Salt and/or temperature at 30 is often used to cure fishes of white spots. I have tried that in the past and trying it as I write now (my latest batch of penguin tetras had white spots and contaminated many of my angels as well as Borellis). So this is what I learnt-
Salt or high temperature would do. To expedite the process, you may use both.

All fishes will temporarily tolerate 30 degrees (for upto a week), but not all fishes will tolerate salt. However, one needs to keep in mind how does the treatment work. these parasites attach themselves to the body and the gills of the fishes. It then catches another host. In between new eggs are laid. With high temperature, the life cycle off these parasites are hastened (normally, in 25 degrees they will have 7 days lifecycle, at 30 degrees this can be brought down to 2/3 days). Also for these parasites to survive, they need to attach themselves to hosts. So once the fishes are put in a bare bottom tank, with 30 degrees and regular water change...within about 10-14 days, the tank can be made free of all parasites. One can then reintroduce the cured fishes to the display tank. One point to remember: whether we use salt or get the temperature high, the hospital tank needs to have a good aeration as salt and high temperature, both deplete dissolved oxygen in the water. in a nut shell, rock salt and high temperature would work almost always.

[juanico]

All fishes will temporarily tolerate 30 degrees (for upto a week),

ok, i'll try.
got some fish recently with a temp range 20-26C, and somehow they got white spots ick.
was hesitant to use salt/temp method because of the 30C...tried to fight it with sera costapur for 4 weeks now...without success.

another question:
although infected by white spot ick my breeding pair produces eggs constantly...are the eggs also infected?
do the eggs also serve as host for the parasites?

[Romi]

Salt and/or temperature at 30 is often used to cure fishes of white spots. I have tried that in the past and trying it as I write now (my latest batch of penguin tetras had white spots and contaminated many of my angels as well as Borellis). So this is what I learnt-
Salt or high temperature would do. To expedite the process, you may use both.

All fishes will temporarily tolerate 30 degrees (for upto a week), but not all fishes will tolerate salt. However, one needs to keep in mind how does the treatment work. these parasites attach themselves to the body and the gills of the fishes. It then catches another host. In between new eggs are laid. With high temperature, the life cycle off these parasites are hastened (normally, in 25 degrees they will have 7 days lifecycle, at 30 degrees this can be brought down to 2/3 days). Also for these parasites to survive, they need to attach themselves to hosts. So once the fishes are put in a bare bottom tank, with 30 degrees and regular water change...within about 10-14 days, the tank can be made free of all parasites. One can then reintroduce the cured fishes to the display tank. One point to remember: whether we use salt or get the temperature high, the hospital tank needs to have a good aeration as salt and high temperature, both deplete dissolved oxygen in the water. in a nut shell, rock salt and high temperature would work almost always.

Excellent advice from Bappa. I wish all of us do not have to learn this simple fact the hard way. ... siphoning the bare bottom tank so that the ich parasite is removed with water changes is one more additional trick that works to tip the balance in favour of the fish. ..

[Romi]

The possibility of the ich parasite finding a host in unhatched eggs is undocumented, and therefore, unlikely.

[bmukh]

The possibility of the ich parasite finding a host in unhatched eggs is undocumented, and therefore, unlikely.

My guess is eggs that are whitish in colour and would be very difficult to photograph and find that they are infected. Given that these parasites attach themselves to living organisms.....eggs would also qualify (as does plants)

[Romi]

Indeed, bappa. But my guess is that plants cannot be a host in any circumstances because the usual ich parasite (Ichthyophthirius multifiliis) needs a high protein food source. That makes it an obligate fish parasite.

Interestingly, since it is a protozoa closely related to protophyta (a closely related group that is closer to plants than animals), it can make its own food using photosynthesis in a particular stage of developement. ... I would recommend blackouts when possible, to tip the scales in favour of the fish and against the ich.

[juanico]

so how to treat the eggs?
also 30C+salt? what about the osmotic pressure, since there is another salinity inside and outside the eggs?