I just got a brand new pearl gourami. The fish shop where i got him just got him that day. There was a whole bunch of them in the tank and they all looked ok, but I knew because of the trip they'd be a little stressed out. Still, I chose what I thought to be the best one and brought him home along with several kuhli loaches. A few hours later, I noticed my pearl wasn't really being very social, and upon closer inspection I found him with the shimmy. My tank is extremely clean, no ammonia with the ph at about 7.4 right now. I know there are medications out there for this type of disease, but I am reluctant to use them as I have malaysian trumpet snails, loaches, and plants that would be negatively affected by them. I have read that raising the temperature to about 85 degrees Fahrenheit and adding 1 tablespoon of salt per 5 gallons could eliminate this disease, and is a dosage low enough to be tolerated by all my inhabitants as well. This seems like a natural and painless way to handle the shimmies, but I wonder, is it enough? For those of you with experience with the shimmies and possibly with this aquarium salt method of curing it, could you tell me exactly how you did it? I'm not sure how long I should keep the salt in there and how long I should keep the temperature up. Basically, how long will it take for these shimmies to go away?
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