Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I did the silly mistake of buying some pretty little goldfish from the pet store, and I just added them to my tank without salt bathing them.

I've had 5 dead Murray Cod so far, all with blotchy skin. So I'm pretty sure it's ich from the goldfish I bought. I've salted (my strawberries aren't going to be happy) up to 4ppt, and will wait it out now. It's been 4 days since the last death and I salted, so hopefully going well.

I'm planning on getting more goldies, and I don't want this to happen again, so I think I need some sort of quarantine tank that I've salted quite high. The goldies still haven't shown any sign of Ich, so how long do I leave them in there? And can I just have a bucket with a bubbler inside? Or does it need to have some sort of filter attached?

Thanks.

The colder the water, the longer you need to keep the salt up, as the Ich life cycle is slower at lower temps.
I'm sure I mentioned something about what I discovered online in my system thread last June/July, but if your water is at 10C it might need 3 or 4 weeks, from memory. 3ppt was enough to kill the Ich that came with my trout.

4ppt will be bad news for the strawberries. They seem ok at 1.5ppt though, in my experience.

..
and, if your mature fish have ICH, and you really can't be bothered treating it, is there any reason why they can't be dispatched and frozen or eaten..

and generally - what rules do you apply to eating "SICK" fish..
..
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Personally I would quarantine them in an aquarium with a heater and use a UV cannister filter for biofiltration and instead of salt you could medicate them (shock horror). I assume you are not going to eat them .