Can I cure ich in my main display tank using hypo salinity

[Shane808262]

My 55 gallon has ich in it and all the fish are being treated with copper in a separate tank. I was wondering that instead of starving the ich to death over the course of the next 3 months in my 55 gallon display tank could I use hypo salinity in it instead for 1 or 2 months so I can add my fish back into it tank faster. Will hypo salinity kill the remaining ich in the 55 and if so how long would I have to run the tank using hypo.

 

[RouJr]

My 55 gallon has ich in it and all the fish are being treated with copper in a separate tank. I was wondering that instead of starving the ich to death over the course of the next 3 months in my 55 gallon display tank could I use hypo salinity in it instead for 1 or 2 months so I can add my fish back into it tank faster. Will hypo salinity kill the remaining ich in the 55 and if so how long would I have to run the tank using hypo.

probably a newbie question but if all your livestocks been removed from the tank can't you medicate it?

 

[Shane808262]

probably a newbie question but if all your livestocks been removed from the tank can't you medicate it?

No because the rocks and sand will absorb the medication

 

[Brett S]

Hypo will kill things like inverts and corals, so if you still have any of those in your DT, then no you can’t use hypo there. But if you just have rocks and sand, then you should be OK with it.

 

[Halal Hotdog]

Corals and inverts will not respond well to hyposalinity, but if you have none then less to worry about. Raising temperature to 82F increase the rate the parasite goes through the lifecycle. With hyposalinity you want to be sure every cyst hatches and bursts prior to reintroducing the fish, if salinity is higher than you plan for during any of the process then there is a chance it won't work.

 

[Gareth elliott]

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/hyposalinity.247596/

I think its the second or third post is a member describing how this went for them and some issues they encountered.

 

[Shane808262]

Corals and inverts will not respond well to hyposalinity, but if you have none then less to worry about. Raising temperature to 82F increase the rate the parasite goes through the lifecycle. With hyposalinity you want to be sure every cyst hatches and bursts prior to reintroducing the fish, if salinity is higher than you plan for during any of the process then there is a chance it won't work.

I have no corals or inverts in the 55, if I use hypo what is the recommend level of salinity

 

[Halal Hotdog]

I have no corals or inverts in the 55, if I use hypo what is the recommend level of salinity

If you can keep and maintain a specific gravity of 1.009 you should be in good shape. Because of the margin of error in refractometers and the fact you have no livestock in the tank, you could potentially keep it a little lower. You also want to add an ammonia source regularly to make sure the bacteria have a food source.

 

[Sailfinguy21]

Yes you can and im living proof you can.

I did hyposalinity for 2 months in my 135g tank. Building fish up to whst i wanted. I actually kept buying fish during the 2 months.. some had ich too.. I stopped buying fish though as i got to my stock i wanted. The last fish i got was my tomini tang and i finished hypo off with him and the rest of my fish for 23 days.. so the tabk was in hypo for 2 months but the last fish for 23 days.

Anyway my salinity has been back to normal for 2 weeks now and i still havent noticed a single white spots.. and i have 3 tangs. Two dwarf angels and 10 other smaller fish.

If i had ich it would come back and show up on my tangs or angels first...

Fti i had hypo at 1.007 to 1.009. I did notice certain species cant handle hypo.. Flame angels, once salinity got to 1.013 they started dying and i lost two flame angels to them retaining water and balooning. I also noticed butterfly fish anthias cant handle it either. Same symptoms they retain water and balloon like dropsy after 24 hrs in hypo.

Dont mess with the temperature.. changing the temp can actually cause some of the parasite to go dormant even in higher temps.. Keep your temps where you always have it and just drop the salinity.

Do a 50% water change and fill the tank with fresh watee if youre at 1.025 itll bring it down to 1.012, then 24 hours later do a 25-30% water change and youll be at 1.008-1.009.

Water evaporation in hypo isnt as crucial like normal salinity.. once your at 1.009 even a 10-20% drop in watee volume wont really change the salinity too much.. but obviously you srill want to top off. But dont listen to people who say maintaining hypo is hard.. its so much easier then maintaining normal salinity.


Do hypo for a min of 4 weeks