Oblivion

I finally had the chance to inspect him...and sure enough...he has Ich!!! I am slowly raising the temperature this moment and tomorrow I'm getting some medicine. Tomorrow too, I will change some of the water. Pray that Gandalf, my Pleco, will survive it through! They say the side effects of Ich makes them hide abnormally...so maybe he will come out more!!! I hope he will be fine afterwards...

manjil

Do ur best,

ur fish should be alright.
As ich can b easily cured.
Best of luck.

Oblivion

Alright, thanks guys; I think he is doing better...He came out alot a little while after I changed the water, added Ich curing medicine, and added aquarium salt.

Dino

Neither plecos nor bn's are helped by salt.

Oblivion

Oh wells...it will help the other fishies then.

Kevin

what is the med. called?

Chief_waterchanger

What Dino is saying is that salt will harm your plecostomus. It is not good for any of the corydoras, plecostomus, or extremely soft-water fish. It causes not only slime-coat problems but also puts stress on the body as the body tries to compensate for the increased salt that the fish takes up into the body. Fish ingest water (otherwise they would not urinate) and the ingestion of salt causes problems such as bloating, kidney issues, and osmatic imbalances.

In hard water fish they are evolved to handle some salt, because all salt is, is a dissolved mineral. Usually corydoras and plecostomus are neutral water fish, which means they do not have the mechanisms that the harder water fish have to tolerate increased salt.

But if you are willing to potentially jeopardize the health of your plecostomus for your other fish then that is up to you.

Oblivion

Well, the LFS said that this salt will not harm them 'cause I asked them

Oblivion

Ich Attack

Chief_waterchanger

I'm sorry but your LFS is wrong. I hope you do not take offense at my saying this, but there is no reason to beat around the bush so here it is:

The more products your LFS sells you the more money they make, and the majority of fish/pet stores are the same as any other business, more concerned about the money than about the care of the product.

Furthermore, most LFSs hire incompotent workers to handle the customers and the product. People on this website make no money based on whatever advice they give, but that is not to say that there are not quality fish stores out there that care about the product, but most do not, and is not to say that everyone's advice is always 100% correct on the website.

Again, the only way to get the point across quickly and efficiently was to be blunt. Sorry if that annoys people, but there is no sense in beating around the bush.

Oblivion

Is there any way I can get the salt fast out of my tank? Next time, I will question them more about it...but the store is hobbyist owned so...but I don't know...

Dino

Your regular water changes will remove the salt over time.

Chief_waterchanger

I know what ya mean, we've been in stores that are hobbyist owned and hear and see things that you would not believe. It is the sign of a good fishkeeper when you are willing to accept other people's advice and realize that people can be wrong. (The main problem with the hobby is the stores spreading false info, sadly.)

Kudos on trying to help the fish, though.

Oblivion

WOOT! Thank God I was clumsy and read the directions wrong! I put 1 TEASPOON/10 gal. instead of 1 TABLESPOON/10 gal!!!
So I put alot less dosage then it said! So Gandalf should be fine...yay?

Dino

He should be.

Oblivion

So what should I do with my full container of aquarium salt? Can I still use it? Just in small doses every couple of months or so? Like I did before?

Chief_waterchanger

As long as there are plecostomus or corydoras in the tank I would not recommend it. There are people that say salt helps their fish, but we honestly have never used salt on our fish just because if you keep the fish in good water conditions, don't overfeed them, give them a variety in their diet, and keep them from being stressed as much as you can that will keep their slime coat in good working order.

Salt acts as an irritant, which induces slime coat production. So basically it scratches their flesh a little, causing them to produce more slime coat as a natural reaction. Kinda like you scab naturally if you scratch the skin away.

It is up to you though.

Oblivion

I'll think about it...argh...now that I think about it...it was the Saltwater lady at the store who recommended the salt but didn't know my Pleco had it...the Freshwater dude did not say to get salt...so I should stick to ask him about everything...but, I will still be cautious