momo3419 Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 Hello, With my recent upgrade to a larger tank my tangs seem to have gotten ich (blue and purple). Thinking it was just from the move I added my Uv and other equipment over. Now it seems to have gotten worse. Heres where the hypo salinity question comes in. What is safe going down to 1.021 range? I know this is not true hypo but being a 180 its impossible to take everyone out. Do I need to be worried about softies? (mushrooms, Kenya trees and GSP) And My nems? Theres to many to take out.... And other inverts? Im going to start a more aggressive feeding routine with selcon and garlic in mysis and LRS. any other suggestions? Also my UV is undersized for the tank I think. 25 watt aqua Uv last tested five days ago nitrate 5-10 salinity 1.025 alk 8.1 Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exodus Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 Well technically the fish can in fact live in that range as its not "extremely" low, but moving your tank down that much isn't an overnight thing, i would assume that would take time in slowly acclimating, then you have to bring it back up eventually which is another gradual process. I think your safest bet is to get your old tank or another tank large enough to house them, get a bunch of established live rock and set up a temporary medic tank to get them into that you can safely medicate. I think this method would have far less risks than jeopardizing all your other corals and livestock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momo3419 Posted September 17, 2015 Author Share Posted September 17, 2015 Well, A true hypo salinity from what I was reading was keeping fish in a tank at 1.009 range. While I know this is way to low to just run with the tank as is. Thats why I was thinking of trying a semi hypo salinity. Im not to worried about my main corals being I have not moved them from my 90 over. However my Nems and some softies are in the tank which are not coming out easily. Has anyone kept nems at a lowered salinity? Say in more of a FOWLR salinity setting at 1.023 range? Im assuming inverts like snails and crabs won't be in much trouble. Typically from what I gathered a hypo salinity treatment is one of the only CURES for Ich but thats dropping salinity way down. It also puts less stress on the fish being they can stay in a single tank. Hints my reasoning for thinking maybe I can reduce the amount in the tank with a light Hypo treatment, allowing me to reduce any other stressing factors in the tank. I.E. Letting the UV run and reducing nitrates back to zero which is where my tangs were before the move. My gathering of how a hypo salinity treatment procedure is done. Keep in mind I'm still gathering information on this topic. 1. salinity is dropped to the range the reefer choses 2. 3-4 weeks after last sight of ich proceed to step 3 3. over the course of several weeks salinity in raised back to 1.025 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 Running the tank at 1.021 won't do you any good. Hypo treatment needs to be taken down to 1.009 and should stay there about 5 weeks. You'll want to lower the salinity over at least 48 hours and follow the same procedure when raising it back up. You need to treat your fish in a separate QT tank and you don't want any live rock in that tank. If hypo is your preferred treatment method, I would do some more research on it and make sure you're fully comfortable doing the treatment. It shouldn't be attempted in your display tank. You are correct that your uv is too small for that size tank. Also remember that a uv sterilizer will only kill what flows through it and will not cure a fish with ich. It may reduce the ich present in the system over time and eventually help keep the fish ich free, but it shouldn't be viewed as a treatment method. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momo3419 Posted September 17, 2015 Author Share Posted September 17, 2015 Yes, Im not trying to cure it at this point. Rather just reduce the amount of parasite on the fish. Im amusing my best bet is just to wait it out. I did not know of a lowered salinity would have any benefits. At this point my main focus in getting the fish into healthier state and at that point I can determine the best course of action. Just verifying here. Dropping down to 1.021 range would have zero benefits? Also Ive had ich before on the blue tang just never this bad. The purple is still new to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exodus Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 Just curious Dragon, why wouldn't you use Live Rock in the Medic Tank? I always thought having bacteria to break down ammonia would be my best bet in the few times years ago I used one of those, otherwise within a day I would have an ammonia spike but I could have been wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LC Scott Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 (edited) If you use copper or any other meds, the rock stands a good chance of absorbing it. Causing you to use more than you really need + it can release the meds back into a tank when you use the rock again. Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk Edited September 17, 2015 by LC Scott 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exodus Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 If you use copper or any other meds, the rock stands a good chance of absorbing it. Causing you to use more than you really need + it can release the meds back into a tank when you use the rock again. Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk Thanks for the clarification, I remember the few times I ever set up a medic tank (oddly enough when i had tangs) I would grab a few pieces out of my display to put in, I always wondered what it did to the rock, so I never added the rock back into the display but rather would eventually just add new rocks I bought covered in corals over time in the open space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LC Scott Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 I keep some filter floss in the sump, just in case I do something dumb and need a qt. Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 If you have rock or sand in your QT tank while doing hypo, it provides a places for the ich to attach to when it drops off the fish. It's even recommended that if you're using any type of filtration that you change out your filter media daily. The other issue is the die-off of bacteria on the rock and sand from the lowered salinity. An ATO will be very helpful to maintain proper salinity throughout the treatment. Slightly lower salinity won't do much for you. It will provide a little extra oxygen in the water, but won't do anything as far as diminishing ich. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceanRevive Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 do you want to try my new product "ich isolation box" to cure your ichy fish? No charge for it, just write a thorough beta test review. Actually, it is not a truely beta test. it has been proofed to cure the ich fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exodus Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 If you have rock or sand in your QT tank while doing hypo, it provides a places for the ich to attach to when it drops off the fish. It's even recommended that if you're using any type of filtration that you change out your filter media daily. The other issue is the die-off of bacteria on the rock and sand from the lowered salinity. An ATO will be very helpful to maintain proper salinity throughout the treatment. Slightly lower salinity won't do much for you. It will provide a little extra oxygen in the water, but won't do anything as far as diminishing ich. Thank you! That makes perfect sense, to be honest I was just referring to dropping them in a QT and using some Ich product like API's, I wasn't even thinking about using hypo in those circumstances, but if he is going to try it I would agree the QT would be the best test environment for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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