salt bath dips

I just treated some of my platys for ich by doing salt bath dips. the fish showed no signs of distress-- and I only kept them in for 1 1.2 minutes each. soon after I put them back in the tank they had these air bubble like looking things on their fins where the ich had appeared-- is this normal. they are good and swimming around-- seem unphased by the bath is this a good treatment for ich?? I also did a 25% water change at the time-- LILA

 

things were fiine until I woke up this morning-- my male phantom tetra that I treated is not swimming well-- he is swimming laterally and turning in circles upside down-- help!!! I don't know what to do to help him. could it have been from the salt water bath??but he was fine after--I don't know-- we also turned up the temp lastnight 2-3 degrees after reading much about that being the only way to really kill the ich--all the other platys that we treated are doing fine-- just this one tetra-- please anyone-- help how can I help him??

 

tetras can be quite sensitive to temp changes. Also check your water parameters, the reason for your ich could be poor water quality, See if you can't separate him and then treat him with meds. Do you have a hospital tank? If your other fish are doing ok I think its safe to say you made the right decision. Remember ich is there long after the spots are gone so carry on doing daily water changes and treating afterwards. Good Luck

 

Interesting. I've never heard of a salt bath dip for treating ick.

 

the book I have is The sSimple Guide to Freshwater Aquariums--by: David E. Boruchowitz-- he spoke highly of treating ich using salt-- I feel like i've done wrong-- we are treating agin now-- good thing I have the day off at work--LILA

 

Treating with salt, yes. Adding salt to the tank water is how its usually done (we start with 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons). Never heard of a salt bath dip though. The salt isn't really to treat the ich, its to treat the fish and assist in healing after the parasites fall off. The higher temperature speeds up the ich's lifecycle so it dies faster.