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I've got a 5 gallon with ~10 heterandria formosa, a small native livebearer and some of my only shrimp (red rilis with interesting genetics). Last weekend I broke down the tank and redid the substrate (removed dirt from under a gravel cap). Obviously, despite my best efforts, this was a little stressful on the fish, and last night I noticed a young male fish with small white specks on him. Other fish have been scratching and seeming unhappy (hiding more, faded colors, not showing off like they usually do), but I figured that was from the rescape and them having to deal with too much flow from the filter (working on that).
Honestly I haven't had ick in years, and it seemed to come out of nowhere. I haven't added anything to the tank, and when I broke it down to redo the substrate, I kept all the plants and driftwood wet in the fish bucket with the filter, fish, and shrimp. They seemed alright with that, unhappy but dealing with it.
Since I saw little white specs on a sluggish and pale fish with somewhat clamped fins, I figured it was ick. From experience with this colony of fish, they don't like temps over 80, and I'm wary about using meds with my shrimp. I'm considering just trying the salt treatment, but is there something else I can do? I don't have anywhere else to put the shimp.
TL;DR: Will salt alone work as and ick treatment if I can't remove shrimp and the fish don't handle high temps well?
Honestly I haven't had ick in years, and it seemed to come out of nowhere. I haven't added anything to the tank, and when I broke it down to redo the substrate, I kept all the plants and driftwood wet in the fish bucket with the filter, fish, and shrimp. They seemed alright with that, unhappy but dealing with it.
Since I saw little white specs on a sluggish and pale fish with somewhat clamped fins, I figured it was ick. From experience with this colony of fish, they don't like temps over 80, and I'm wary about using meds with my shrimp. I'm considering just trying the salt treatment, but is there something else I can do? I don't have anywhere else to put the shimp.
TL;DR: Will salt alone work as and ick treatment if I can't remove shrimp and the fish don't handle high temps well?