# help i need to know if my fish can handle salt treatment



## ghosty (Nov 26, 2008)

here is my tank....
50gal
6 lemon tetras
6 black skirt tetras
1 paradise gourami
1 small angle
1 white tipped blue rainbow shark
2 synadontis
1 twig catfish
1 sm BGK

i just did a water change 2 days ago. i also added plants. my most current fish addition was the twig cat fish which i kept in my quarintine tank for about 2 weeks. the white dots are only on the black skirt tetras. what could they had caught it from
my tank parameters are
nitrate 20
nitrite 0
ph 7.0
KH240
GH 180
i don't know what the ammonia is i don't have any test strips
so can i use salt to treat my tank and how much should i use
thank you


----------



## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

http://www.fishforum.com/member-submitted-articles/ich-treatment-west-texas-style-6594/

The above is the protocol I followed when treating my tank w/ the salt/heat method. The article may prove of some use to you. Did you purchase the plants from a tank that also had fish in it? Ich can be spread through the introduction of plants from an infected tank. I believe that's the way my tank was infected.


----------



## ghosty (Nov 26, 2008)

okay my temp is already at 80 and i just did a 30% water change 2 days ago should i just start adding salt?


----------



## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

I'm the wrong person to ask this question of. I always follow instructions :roll: 
So, with that being said, I'd do a 20% water change and then add the salt. You should dissolve the salt in a container with some of your tank water, then slowly add it to the tank.


----------



## 1077 (Apr 16, 2008)

What is BGK? In any event , shark and catfish are sometimes salt sensitive. I would maybe consider using salt at half doses even if it meant longer treatment. You really need to find out what your ammonia level is for stress from poor water conditions can often times cause fish to become more suceptible to Parasites and other Illnesses. And as has been mentioned if the plants you added came from a tank that held fish it is possible that ICH was introduced in that way.


----------



## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

Black Ghost knife. 1077 is 100% correct in that you need a testing kit. Most of us use the liquid API test kits. I was able to use the exact ratio of salt to gallons when I treated my tank and I keep a catfish & loaches. I'm not sure how delicate a BGK is but I've heard that they are. As 1077 says, you may have to use a lesser amount of salt and extend treatment for a longer period of time.


----------



## ghosty (Nov 26, 2008)

ive been meaning to get one. there wasn't any fish to my knowledge in the plant tanks.okay so i did the water change bumped up the water and i put 1 1/2 tb spoons of salt as directed now should i just not add salt today? and add half the amount tomorrow? what should be the salt level?


----------



## aspects (Feb 1, 2009)

BGK as well as other knife fish will respond well to salt treatment. the main thing is that you make sure to add the right amount. scaleless/smallscale fish are generally more sensitive to their WP.


----------



## ghosty (Nov 26, 2008)

okay so then follow the plan west texas style? or cut it in half and spread it over a longer period of time?
i got a test kit today here is what it reads
almonia - 0
nitrite - 0.1
pH - 8.0
KH - 90
GH - 200
so the only thing that i see off is the pH. how do i lower the pH to the proper level? and can i do this while im treating with salt?


----------



## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

If you hadn't been testing your water until now how do you know that 8.0 hasn't been the ph all along? Don't fiddle with your ph. Doing that plus the West Texas method will be putting too much stress on your fish, IMO. I keep loaches & cats and followed the West Texas method to the letter with no ill effects on my fish. 
Did you do a nitrate test? I see that you had a nitrite reading of 0.1. If you've got the API test kit (?) the measures start out as 0, .25,.50, 1.0. Did you mean to type 1.0??


----------



## Fishcricker (Feb 16, 2008)

Some tetra species also do not fair well with salt in their water.


----------



## ghosty (Nov 26, 2008)

i was testing with stripes before and they were reading that it was 7.0. i used the master test kit by hagen. and it reads .01, i didn't have nitrates but with the stripes its 0. okay but what about my other fish the ones that are sensitive. i cant just remove my synadontis and catfish into my quarintine tank i have other fish in there.
my biggest concern is my ghost knife, bichir,angle and twig catfish.


----------



## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

The only info I can add is that I used the West Texas treatment and I have clown loaches & a pictus, which are also considered very sensitive and I didn't have any problems.


----------



## ghosty (Nov 26, 2008)

so far so good i only lost one shark and my BGK and twig cat look good so far.. i don't know if this is normal but it seems to have cleared on the black skirts and the synadontis but now the lemon tetra have it worse than the black skirts did and the only other fish that is showing signs is the BGK but hes eating and acting normal.. my hope are high...thanks for all the advise


----------



## ghosty (Nov 26, 2008)

*do i need to replace filter media*

okay so my ich is gone :-D im in the process of lowering the temp and water changes. should i be replacing the filter media?


----------



## 1077 (Apr 16, 2008)

I would wait a week after seeing the last fish spot, or ICH free, and then replace the media with NEW media. I wouldn't use that that I took out of the infected tank even if it had dried and been rinsed. But that's just me.


----------



## ghosty (Nov 26, 2008)

thanks so far its been 5 days since i saw the last spots i'm so happy that i didn't loose any large amounts of fish


----------

