so I got two figure 8 puffers for my brackish tank, they came from freshwater and I acclimated them into my setup, sadly I somehow didn't see the tiny white salt looking bumps before they went into the tank.... I've got a couple of guppies and 3 mollys in there with them now, other than the little white specs they behave normally and eat as soon as offered food. I'm going to use the temperature method to treat this just, but these are my first puffers and I just wanted to ask to be sure if that method is preferable. Also does raising the tank temp to 86 pose a problem for the mollys or guppies? Was moving them to brackish water detrimental to curing this? my SG is currently a little high at 1.009, the range I keep it in is usually 1.005 to 1.010. Any advise would be greatly appreciated thank you in advance!
First time poster ich on my new f8 puffers...
- Thread starter ashar1701
- Start date
I would absolutely not use any sort of temp method. Any temp that can kill ich, can kill fish as well. Also that temp doesn't really kill ich, but may play with their metabolism. The detriment to fish is not worth playing around with that.
For saltwater fish, 1.009sg results in an effective ich treatment (hyposalinity). However, you are dealing with FW fish in salinity transition. Are you able to use copper treatment? We are not necessarily versed in brackish or freshwater treatment on this forum but someone with more knowledge here on FW might give you advise. I do know that an adequate copper treatment will kill both fresh and saltwater ich (two different organisms). Are these fish in a quarantine? Copper will not be appropriate for a tank that has plantings or inverts.
For saltwater fish, 1.009sg results in an effective ich treatment (hyposalinity). However, you are dealing with FW fish in salinity transition. Are you able to use copper treatment? We are not necessarily versed in brackish or freshwater treatment on this forum but someone with more knowledge here on FW might give you advise. I do know that an adequate copper treatment will kill both fresh and saltwater ich (two different organisms). Are these fish in a quarantine? Copper will not be appropriate for a tank that has plantings or inverts.
Hi thanks for replying, I know that copper can kill the ich for sure, however it takes forever to leave the water and I want to move my mud morays in there eventually and they have zero tolerance for copper. sorry I should have mentioned that. I'm really trying to avoid meds altogether if possible I've got a bunch of blue legged hermit crabs too and I'm not sure how that'll affect them. Brackish seems to be an odd between place as far as info goes, was just looking for the saltwater keeper's opinions. I'm hoping since it is a freshwater ich they're infected with that just the increase in salinity will kill it along with a slight temp change like 86 or so, they're currently at 81.
Yes, salt appears to be a natural treatment for FW ich. Ich won't die off in 86 but will cause extreme stress in your fish and may kill off your inverts. You should think about establishing a qurantine tank for new fish, to avoid such problems as this. It's near impossible to keep fish without expecting them to come in with parasites or other diseases.