ich and other help

Question
QUESTION: Hi Matt... I have a 40 gallon tank with 1 black molly, 2 sunburst platys, and 3
cardinal tetras.. I have had my tank up and running for 3 months, and fish for
2 months.. i have had high ammonia and its finally getting under control with
frequent water changes.. its at .25.. how ever now my ph is at 6.0!! I noticed
a white spot on my black molly and now on one of my sunburst platys... now
more spots.. both those fish are not doing well.. So i turned up the
temperature to 86 degrees over the past few days... Hoping that 2 weeks will
kill the ich, but can my fish survive for 2 weeks with that temperture.. i do
have an bubble machine in my tank and lowered the water level.. Im thinking
of also adding salt but would like more info with how to do that...  

Any help with ich, and how to raise the ph would be awesome.. Thanks soo
much!


ANSWER: Hi Janice,
The reason behind the Heat and Salt treatment to cure ich is; heat speeds up the cycle of the ich, but if you dont use salt with the heat, then all you will be doing is increasing the cycle of the ich and producing more ich faster.  Basically it will just be helping the ich spawn more.  Salt kills ich which is why most ich medications are salt-based.  And the reason why heat and salt are combined is because only some stages of ich are affected by the salt, so we want to increase the life cycle of the ich to kill as much ich as possible.  86F is when ich stop reproducing, and 87-90 is when they start dieing.  Try raising it to 87F and adding salt to the tank.  You need to buy aquarium salt, not table salt.  I believe it is 1tbsp for every 5 gallons of aquarium water.  So if you have a 40 it would be 8tbsp total.  Remember to dissolve the salt in water first before adding.  The treatment should be 1week-2weeks.  Replace any salt missing.  For example, if you do a 10 gallon partial water change, add in 2tbsp salt.  After treatment, salt will be removed by gradual water changes.

To raise pH, add crushed corals to the substrate.  Crushed corals should be sold near the gravel section of local fish stores.  If you dont see it, ask for assistance.  It should ne near the saltwater area also.
-Matt-

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks so much for the fast reply.. I added some salt last night and will add
the rest today, hoping to raise the salt levels slowly. Will the tetras be alright
with the salt?  Ill be getting crushed corals tomorrow for the Ph..  anything
you recommend to help speed up my cycle.. I accidently rinsed all the
sponges in the filter once, and have been doing lots of water changes and
gravel vacs to get rid of the ammonia that my tank is not cycled. I add stress
zyme weekly.  Thanks again Matt!

Janice

Answer
Tetras, invetebrates, and fish with no scales such as loaches are more sensitive to salt.  Tetras also require cycled water or water low in all 3 nitrogen levels (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate).  In order to keep it know keep doing water changes until your tank is cycled.  Tetras are more sensitive than other fish regarding nitrogen levels.  To cycle it faster, you can seed the tank.  Seeding is where you take someone elses bacteria culture, such as from a used filter media, and place it in your tank.  The more cultures of bacteria in the tank, the faster your tank cycles.  

When doing water changes and conditioning the water, I recommend Prime.  It is made my SeaChem and is the TOP recommended water conditioner.  Although stress zyme will also work, it is not comparable to Prime :).
-Matt-