Neon Tetras and Salt

Question
Hello,

I have had quite a bit of ICH in my tank lately, several fish have died. I have tried ICH treatments (like Rid ICH) with not a lot of sucess, other than it killed my already weakened fish. I have read that aquarium salt can be helpful in getting rid of ICH and other diseases, but also read that they can be harmful to scaleless fishes. I have a 40 gal tank with Neon Tetra's, Molly's, Gourami's, and Platys. Would it be feasible to use the aquarium salt as a treatment, even though I have Neon Tetra's in there? Do you even recommend using Aquarium Salt in Aquariums to rid of disease? One of my Gourami's also has some sores on him where he got caught in a rock, and I thought this might be beneficial for him to help him heal faster.

Thanks for your answer.

Megan

Answer
Hi Megan,
Salt may help in preventing disease, but it is not a cure.  I wouldn't recommend it with neons, but then Mollies need aquarium salt to be healthy.  You should add one teaspoon of aquarium salt to 5 gallons of water that you have diluted before adding it to your aquarium.  The problem is that neons should be given half the dose of medicine, while your other fish need the full dose of medication to be cured.  If you have another aquarium, you should treat the neons separately.  There are many good ich cures on the market, and ich is really easy to treat.  You should be able to get rid of it.  Do a good water change, add the salt, and buy a good ich treatment.  Jungle has a good treatment, and there are many others.  
After treating with ich cure, you should make another water change of about 50%, and let your fish rest for a day or two.  Then you could treat with Malafix to cure your Gourami.  Follow the directions on the bottle.  This is a good natural medication, and should not hurt your fish.  Maybe you could start off with half the dose, and see how things go.  I'm a little worried about the neons.  
Remember to disolve the salt well before putting it in your aquarium.
Make your water changes every week, keep your ammonia level down to safe, this is very important.
Hope this helps
Lynda