Salfin got ick (lots of them)

Just beware.....MG is pretty harsh. There are different methods of treating so read up dude. Also, it stains anything it hits. And I believe it is carcinogenic. To use gloves or be realllllly careful. Remember, it stains silicone and anything plastic in the tank, especially soft plastic.

 

Its interesting to note that thought freshwater dips WILL kills the ich parasite. It will not kill it, if it is protected by the mucas membrance of the fish, and the cyst to which it is encased. It does however cause the fish's system to go into overdrive in an attempt to shed the cysts and to get away from the freshwater, which in turn can sevearly stress the fish. Hypo kills ich while its hatched from the cysts and floating around looking to re-attach to another fish (or the same one). Its the osmotic pressure when the salinity is low that will cause the organisms to die off (I've heard it said by some that they literally explode within moments of being exposed to lower pressue).

Another really good thing to note is that, if your fishes have other parasites that you perhaps can't see... Hyposalinity will kill that off too! Hyposalinity also reduces stress on the fish by reducing the load on its internal filtration of salt, which affects the kidneys of the animal too. Allowing it to devert more energy to fighting off those nasty bugs they have. After you've actually reached the hyposalinity level, maintain it for a period of six weeks and the ich will not be able to survive. Then slowly bring your salinity level back up to ~1.024 over a period. Keep in mind though, even though you are treating one fish in your QT, others may be affected just not showing symptoms. It may be a good idea to transfer the fish you can get your hands on (If you have more than the tang) and put them into Hypo so that no traces of the parasite can be on any of your animals. Also by doing this the ICH will not have anything in your DT, henceforth they will die off during the time your treating your fish in the QT. The benefit to this of course, is that you will no longer have the chance of ich outbreaks unless of course your don't QT your next purchase.



Hope this info is helpful to all.

-Gavin

P.S. 6 Weeks really is longer than needed, the life cycle of the ICH would only be able to survive for 4 weeks. The reason the 6 week is used is insurance. If you have exceptionally strong parasites, an extra couple of days wont hurt you, but will annihilate those little buggers. Adding an additional two weeks could save you from doing the entire process over again.