Hypo-salinity and still ich?

[Frenchie87]

I have a powder blue tang. I've had him for about 2.5-3 years. It came down with ich. This is the first time I've had ich since I very first for into saltwater. I have had him is quarantine since 3/9. Salinity is at 1.010 and has been since 3/11. Temp is 79 and I do daily water changes just to keep ammonia down. I've never actually seen the spots go away completely since putting in quarantine. He stopped eating a few days ago but seems to be a little more interested in food today (not like he used to). But the spots are still pretty bad today. Question is do I continue with the hypo-salinity or just raise the salt content back up and just do the copper based meds? Thanks in advance.


Sent Via the R2R Forum APP

 

[Dana]

if he is in qt you can try meds, or you can turn up the heat. 86 degrees will stop reproduction of ich and 89 will actually kill it. if you do use heat do it gradually 1 degree per hour and monitor your fish.

 

[Reefs-A-Lot]

I had to keep my PTB in hypo for a good month and fed allot during this time I also dosed paraguard- give him time at least two more weeks to kill the infection cycle

 

[Mole]

I just lost a couple fish to ich... JUST before they died I did quite a bit of research about it... if it is truly Marine Ich, specific gravity needs to be between 1.08 and 1.09 period. No higher and no lower.

 

[Mole]

Only two GUARANTEED ways to kill Marine Ich, hyposalinity between 1.08 1nd 1.09 and copper. But, if your fish is too sick copper is definitely a bad choice.

Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part I by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com

Marine Ich - Myths and Facts

Curing Fish of Marine Ich

Marine Ich

 

[Frenchie87]

I just lost a couple fish to ich... JUST before they died I did quite a bit of research about it... if it is truly Marine Ich, specific gravity needs to be between 1.08 and 1.09 period. No higher and no lower.

Well I was told 1.010. So I'll try to lower it down to 1.008-1.009 and see how that goes. The fish I feel is relatively healthy. Far and eats good except the last 2-3 days. I appreciate all the input from everyone


Sent Via the R2R Forum APP

 

[Frenchie87]

I may try to bump the heat a little. But I think 89 is way to hot. I may stick around 82-84


Sent Via the R2R Forum APP

 

[Saltgator]

During my 2 outbreaks of ich, my tangs went thru a couple cycles of ich, while in hypo. They were hit and miss on eating, so i only fed every other day, but provided roasted nori 24/7. Eventually around week 6 is when no signs on my tangs was the greatest. Both times I almost gave in on heat and meds, but stopped before I stressed the fish out.

Country Boy using tapatalk on his EVO

 

[Dana]

I may try to bump the heat a little. But I think 89 is way to hot. I may stick around 82-84


Sent Via the R2R Forum APP

yeah i dont blame you. ive read mixed things about heat, and some say its best for freshwater, but i believe bumping the heat a bit helps speed the cycle of ich

 

[fragmatic]

I "heard".. (and this is really a question for my future knowledge) that upping the heat causes the ich to cycle quicker so the qt process can be more effective. Is there any value to this statement?


EDIT... lol ...Dana must of heard the same thing...

 

[Mole]

you wanna keep the qt as close to the original tank as possible minus the SG. everything else must be as close as possible. The whole idea is to stress the fish the least amount possible. even changing the heat a couple degrees could do that... if your going to do hypo treatment, do ONLY the hypo treatment. It will be enough stress on the fish as it is.

 

[Frenchie87]

So whats everyone's trick to keeping ammonia down in the quarantine tank? Just water changes everyday?


Sent Via the R2R Forum APP

 

[Mole]

Before you do too much more of anything please read at least Marine Ich - Myths and Facts . And I quote

"MI can live and reproduce in temperatures as low as 50F and as high as 90F. Thus temperatures that would kill MI would first kill or severely stress most tropical marine fishes."

 

[dankreef]

What is going on in here 89 degrees? Copper that guy and get him on food + garlic and add a couple cleaner shrimp to the QT. Some people think shrimp don't effect them but its my personal belief that they can get some of the parasites before they become "pregnant" and are stuck on your fish. But you never know, I just like to do everything possible. Hypo tough to maintain that perfect salt level due to evap unless you got a top off. Copper and make sure you don't have any LR or sand in the qt. Sorry you are having to deal with it!

 

[Dana]

I "heard".. (and this is really a question for my future knowledge) that upping the heat causes the ich to cycle quicker so the qt process can be more effective. Is there any value to this statement?


EDIT... lol ...Dana must of heard the same thing...

Lol yeah I mean, I've read tons of stuff. I'm just trying to help. Apparently I'm giving bad information.
Either way the op is free to follow or not follow anyone's advise and research given methods before trying.
ALOT of things over the years have been said cannot or won't work.
Take my advise or don't, just trying to help

 

[dankreef]

Not saying don't try to help, but don't give information that isn't totally accurate or true that you have experienced yourself personally and is going to kill peoples fish. I've had tanks before that an ac unit went out and the tank got 85 and killed everything. Plus MI can live in 90 degree water or something high like that. With MI you have to tackle it ASAP before the fish gets so infected it wont eat and the parasite will kill it, when they get to a certain point there is nothing you can do really. I've tried freshwater dips, copper, and hypo. The only thing for me that worked was copper the fish ASAP before it stops eating. Garlic will most of the time attract fish to the food. If garlic doesn't get it to eat try live brine shrimp. Garlic is suppose to boost health too for fish. But the fact is when a fish gets to far along theres not much you can do. That's why you QT all fish to break the cycle before putting them with LR/LS so they can reproduce.

 

[Dana]

"shrug" well hope your fish makes it frenchie.
Good luck! Peace ✌

 

[Frenchie87]

Well appreciate all the help. I'm going to lower the salinity some more over night. And let it go another week or so and see what happens. I'm just trying to avoid the copper because I've read a lot about the negative effects of the copper on the fishes internal organs. I've heard a lot less bad stories with the copper treatment than with hypo. I tried copper about 6 years ago on the last fish that had Ich and it still kicked the bucket. So that's why I'm trying to stick to the hypo for awhile.


Sent Via the R2R Forum APP

 

[Frenchie87]

This is also a fairly old fish I feel. The guy I got it from bad it for 8 years prior to me and I've had it almost 3 years. If say that's pretty good for a tang in a home aquarium. Imo


Sent Via the R2R Forum APP

 

[dankreef]

I hear that Frenchie. Ich is bad news. Copper isn't good for anything. The only thing that is bad about hyp is if it goes out of that .02 range anywhere you must restart the cycle over again. I always had problems keeping it RIGHT there. If your parameters were outside what its suppose to be for even a day you have to start the whole process time period over again. Or leave him in QT for i'm pretty sure 90 days? Need to check the longest know life cycle period of MI but I think off hand is right at 90. I also wonder if having the salt that low for long periods of time is as stressful to the fish as copper? No one really knows Best of luck to you, that parasite causes much stress to the fish AND the owner!