Hello there,im a newbie with an aquarium i had wo goldies for over a yr n recetly got a bigger tank and a few more goldies so total is now about 7.two almost 5-7 inches long ( these have been with me for over a yr)n 5 newbies barely an 1.1/2 inches long in a 30 gallon tank.

ive never used a heater.and like a fool i got two new sword plants from one of these special aquarium shops.(it was so shbby looking the shop itself i meant).n i think that was the ich carrier.now all my fishies r effected badly with couple sitting head down . Im been surfing this site for two days n i had couple of questions...

i bought rid-ich medication from petsmart n ive been treating my whole tank every two days sinc the past one weeks n did a 30% water change after the 3rd treatment like the lady in the store asked me too... its just gottten worse i see more spots than ever.the bottle says i could do treatments every 24 hrs n if necessary every 12 hrs (it sure looks necessary to me) but im worried after reading all ur posts...u guys seem to have an alternate cure with salt n temp...im really confused what to do.

can u please elaborate both treatment methods n whichever one will be more effective. esp how much of salt will i need to add for a 30 gallon tank n how do i introduce a heater into the tank with out shocking the fish with the temp change .
also should i remove the live plants n the ornaments n treat them with hot water and salt or the rid ich medication n remove the gravel completely n treat it the same way.

BTW can i combine the two treatments(my reason tells me no but i still like to reconfirm this)

pls help i can't bear to watch my fishy pals suffer i need to do somehing for them fast.



appreciate ur input

some more info about my tank n fishes forgot to add this in my earlier post.

Test Results for the Following:
Ammonia Level? Nitrite Level? Nitrate level?
Ph Level, (If possible,KH and GH and chloramines)?
Ph Level out of the Tap? - petsmart tested my water level for all of teh above n said its ok well within normal range
Tank size (How many Gals) and How long has it been running? 30 gallon running since a monthWhat is the name and size of the filter/s? top fin bio 3 large filter
How often do you change the water and how much? 30% weekly
How many fish in the tank and their size? 7 two about 5 inches n remaining 5 barley an inch and a half"
What kind of water additives or conditioners? terta fin conditioner
Any medications added to the tank? as of now rid ich
Add any new fish to the tank? the 5 newbies were added 10 days agoWhat do you feed your fish? Tetra Fin Goldfish Crisps
Any unusual findings on the fish such as "grains of salt",
bloody streaks, frayed fins or fungus? definately have ich on them seems rather bad as of now
Any unusual behavior like staying at the bottom, not eating, ect..? some sitting head down n rubbing n flashing

Hi navi - would you be able to take a sample of your water to your lfs to test? Ask if they can write down the parameters.

You're in the same boat as I - 2 weeks ago, I had an ich breakout from a potted plant so what I did was add 1 teaspoon of pre-dissolved sea salt per gallon of tank water. Then 12 hours later I added another teaspoon per gallon (pre-dissolving) and then about 12 hrs after that, I added a further teaspoon per gallon.

As soon as the 3rd dose of salt (can use sea, rock, aquarium, any kind without additives) was added taking my salinity to 0.3%, I then set up my heater and slowly raised the temp to 82 degrees.

Heat will speed up the ich's cycle and after they've dropped off the fish, they divide into tomites that actively seek out a new host - these are killed off with 0.3% salt.

If you use meds for this and they contain malachite green (very green water), then it's important to cover the tank and keep the lights off, otherwise it reduces the strength of the meds.

The gentlest way is with salt - but you need to act fast although if you're going to use meds, can you still heat your tank at all?

And, the most important part of the treatment is your water parameters need to be perfect - otherwise their immunity will remain low making it hard to fight off any secondary bacterial infection... so keep up the waterchanges throughout.

Please post back soon and good luck

ps. and a big

tx a ton i was wondering can i simultaneously use the salt n the rid ich medications ?alos how much salt will i need to add to a 30 gallon tank of course it probably holds just about 27-28 gallons.

thank you so much...how do i increase the temp? is about 2 degrees per day ok since i have never used a heater before?

sorry for all the questions but im so glad i found this site. hope my fishies get well soon


tx again navi

Hi navi

As Jen mentioned, 1 tsp for each gallon per day for 3 days.. 1tsp - 1gall, 30tsp - 30gall, 28tsp -28gall. Get the pic? so if you have a 30 gall tank, you add 30 tsp of predissolved sal the first day, 30 tsp the second, and 30 tsp the third day.

I'm not sure of the conventions on this message board, but I raise the temp a degree, leave it for a couple of hours, raise another degree (celcius), leave for a couple of hours, so probably raise the temp by about 5 degrees(celcius) in one day.

Because your tank is overstocked, it is imperative for you to keep the water as clean as possible, 50% every other day...

I know most people suggest salt on this site, and it does work, but if I get a really severe case of ich I usually use Triple sulpha tabs, I wouldn't touch the 'ich-away' type fluids that use malachite green/methylene blue/acriflavine, these treatments are often not enough when Ich has gone too far.. TS tabs are pretty well accepted by goldies, and it really knocks off the Ich, again, use with heat and redose in 3 days.... And, (Yeah, yeah yeah,...) Keep Up the Water Changes....

Good luck! if you treat it right, follow the salt method or the TS method, your fish have a good probability to recover, you just need to jump on it..

Just so you know, 5 TEAspoons = about 1 TABLEspoon. Makes life a little easier!

really? i thought 1 TEAspoon is 5 ml and 1 TABLEspoon is 15 ml, meaning 3 TEAspoons = 1 TABLEspoon. That's what my gf told me (she used to learn pharmacy & her family has a medicine store)

Yea, 1 tablespoon is 3 teaspoons. go0gle will do any coversion for you, it is so cool. Just type in 1 tablespoon to teaspoons.

Maybe the confusion is in the two ways of recommending raising salinity. There is 1 teaspoon per gallon and there is 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons. They are not the same amount, but both are given as 0.1%.

Hi Navi,
If the med's you are useing currently have formalin in them, then they do not mix well with salt and can burn the fish. So its just not recomended.

Hmmmm..... Doc's aquarium salt says 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons... always assumed it was the same as 5 teaspoons.... *shrugs* worked when my guy had ich....

Here's a salt dosage chart on this page that gives the correct amounts in both U.S & Imperial for more accuracy.

http://www.goldfishinfo.com/salt.htm