How to Treat Freshwater Ich With Marine Salt

Ich, also known as white spot disease, is a common parasitic disease among home aquarium fish that appears as small white spots on the skin and gills. To eradicate this pest, you need to kill it during the free-swimming larval stage, which can often be accomplished with heat and salt. This treatment is recommended for freshwater tropical fish.

Things You'll Need

  • Measuring spoon
  • Small cup
  • Marine salt
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Instructions

  1. Treating Ich With Salt

    • 1

      Raise the water temperature of the tank incrementally over one to two days using the heater in your aquarium. Eighty degrees is sufficient, but 85 degrees is better if your fish can tolerate more heat. Higher temperatures increase the rate of the parasite's life cycle and shorten the length of time needed for treatment.

    • 2

      Fill the cup with tank water and add one teaspoon of marine salt, stirring it until the salt completely dissolves. This may take a few minutes because of the dissolved minerals present in marine salt. For large tanks, you may want to use two teaspoons of salt in the cup.

    • 3

      Slowly pour the salt water into the tank. Pouring it in front of the filter output helps disperse it through the aquarium quickly and evenly. Avoid pouring it onto a fish directly or where a fish is likely to swim into the salty cloud that will be visible in the water. This step can be done at the same time you are raising the temperature levels. You do not have to wait for the water to warm up first.

    • 4

      Repeat the process of adding salt slowly over a period of one to two days until you have reached one to three teaspoons of salt per gallon of water. The amount of salt to add depends on the salinity tolerances of the fish you are keeping. Watch the fish's reactions carefully as you add the salt. Stop adding salt if they display any type of negative reaction.

    • 5

      Observe the fish carefully over the next several days. When all of the white spots on the fish disappear, keep the salt and heat levels the same for another five days to eliminate any microscopic, free-swimming parasites.

    • 6

      Conduct a water change of about 10 to 20 percent daily after treatment has been completed, but do not add more salt. After about five or six days, continue with normal water changes without adding more salt. The change in water slowly lowers the salinity levels with minimum stress to the fish. Slowly reduce the heat back to normal levels over the course of several days.