# help with ick on flowerhorn



## pernjie (Oct 25, 2010)

right now my flowerhorn has ick and im treating it right now in a tank with aquarium salt and is warm with a 88-90 degree temperature..heres my question what temperature is too hot for fishes?and how do you know if your overdosing on the aquarium salt?i just wanna be safe and making sure im not overdosing on the aquarium salt and the heat isnt too hot for him..in the tank i have 2 flowerhorns right now and they appear to be mating since they arent fighting male and female i removed the divider and the female is getting some of the ick on her...


----------



## Spooki (Oct 6, 2010)

Make sure you have as much aeration in the tank as physically possible with temps that high. As far as knowing how much they can take you'll just have to watch them for signs of distress (fins clamped, hanging on top, hanging on the bottom, rapid gill movements, flailing). Also make sure you're doing regular water changes to suck up the cysts before they have time to hatch.


----------



## Mikaila31 (Dec 18, 2008)

just stop with the super high temp and salt and use a copper med.


----------



## meowfish (Aug 31, 2010)

I see this is a couple days old but thought I'd throw in my two cents' worth as I use the heat treatment for Ich as well...

I'd echo Spooki on the aeration and signs of distress. "Too hot" is a relative term - it depends on your fishes' tolerance and how long they are at that temperature. I don't have any experience with Cichlids but a quick Google indicates the 'flowerhorn' generally thrives at a temp of 80-85 F, so I would expect no cooked fish with your temperature raised for 10 days or so. 

As for the salt, the higher temperature is really what gets rid of the Ich - the parasites stop reproducing at 86 F, so that's the minimum temperature you want your tank at. Ssalt helps the fish heal more quickly, but personally I don't feel the heat treatment is any more/less effective with or without salt. I have generally dosed at recommended levels (1 tablespoon per 5 gallons per the label on my API salt). I have a number of plants in my tanks but they weathered the salt fairly well.

I usually do a large water change prior to raising the temp but I avoid water changes during heat treatment as the fish are under enough stress as it is - water changes, however small, affect pH, temperature, and salinity (if you're adding salt). Since the Ich won't infect your fish at temperatures higher than 85 F it really makes no difference whether you suck up the little buggers or not. That's just my personal opinion, FWIW.

There's a number of folks on here much more experienced than I am - if you search the forum using the phrase "heat salt" (no "" quotes) you'll find a number of additional threads which might be helpful. Good luck!


----------

