Ick, and seasalt

Question
Hi, I am using mericide in my tank for ick, and tonight I lost one of my favorite oranda goldfishes, the ick seems to be more agressive than normal. I have been medicating twice a day now for 3 days and don't really see any results. I have used mericide for years with great success, I am wondering if I add some seasalt to the tank would that help. I have a 5 gallon aquarium, I upgraded them from a 2.5gallon aquarium, I run two under water filters and a bio filter on the top, I do have say 8 or 9 goldfish in the tank. They were doing awsome in the 2.5. but I just moved them two days ago. (added a new fish-which I believe brought in the ick) I don't want to loose anymore fish. I have run a 110 gallon, a 90 gallon, 40 gallon and 29 gallon tanks in the past, but wanted something small by my chair. I have years of fish experience, and have used sea salt in the past, I was wondering if it might help this time. AND NO I am not getting a larger tank, I know the "rules" for how many fish to put in an aquarium, I don't agree and I have enough filtration, plus water changes to keep them going. This is just a very agressive form of ick.

Answer
Hi Sharna,
I'm sorry to hear you lost your Oranda goldfish. Ick can be aggressive and quite deadly to some fish, especially if it primarily infects the gills.

The thing about treating for ICK is being that you have goldfish and most likely a cooler temperature. The ick won't go through its lifestage as quickly and so treatment takes longer. At temperatures of 80-84 F the ick parasite's lifecycle will speed up greatly and it makes killing the parasites quicker. Still, its best if you continue treating the tank for a minimum of 2 weeks despite what the directions say. This is a precautionary to prevent a re occurrence.

Most goldfish can tolerate a rise in temperature and as long as there is plenty of oxygen, they shouldn't be hurt. Adding an airstone will really help as well as making sure the filter is running as well as it can and creating plenty of surface movement.

Also keep in mind any medication treatment usually wipes out the beneficial bacteria that have established. Which results in ammonia spikes and other water quality problems. With this in mind, daily 50% water changes are best to keep the fish healthy. It will not interfere with treatment and all that is needed is to redose after the water change.

You can use salt with medication. I'm currently treating a wild fish (sunfish) for an ick infestation and I'm very surprised the results I am getting and he is doing extraordinarily well. I have the temperature at a reasonably stable 83-84F, As well as this treatment-
*"Quick Cure" medication (1 drop per two gallons added after each daily 50 water change)
*1/2 teaspoon of aquarium salt per gallon (make sure salt is pre-dissolved.)

You probably just need to increase the temp if possible. Do daily water changes due to the wipe out of the biofilter and a little salt wouldn't hurt.

Best wishes and I hope you don't loose anymore fish.
Karen~