Hyposalinity for Ich in Display

[LAReefer4Life]

Yes, looks like ich clearly on the tangs but there could be flukes as well. As mentioned, hypo combats both issues. Proceed with your game plan as mentioned above.

 

[jmichaelh7]

So I’ve been wanting to ask this question if you go buy coral frags colonies or add rock etc and janitors why don’t you have to qt them for 75 days also instead of a few weeks like most recommend to prevent ick or velvet ? Who here QT’s corals and such for 75 days I’m curious ?

I will be quarantine corals for 30 days here on out now that I ran quarantine with copper. It’s a pain but hey I’m in for the long run

 

[angelsandtangs]

I will be quarantine corals for 30 days here on out now that I ran quarantine with copper. It’s a pain but hey I’m in for the long run

But shouldn’t it be 75 because that’s how long you’re suppose to go fallow wouldn’t that make sense ?

 

[LAReefer4Life]

But shouldn’t it be 75 because that’s how long you’re suppose to go fallow wouldn’t that make sense ?

Yes exactly

 

[Max93]

Alright guys couple questions:

i am going to begin hypo this Sunday. The reason why I’m not doing it today or tomorrow is because I work a ton. Also, I have calibration fluid on the way that should arrive Friday so I can make sure my refractometer is spot on.

I will update here once I begin and track the whole thing. Hopefully this helps others.

questions:

1. will hypo kill all my beneficial bacteria in my display?
2. If so, should I have some microbacter handy so I can help out the bacteria population once I increase the SG again?

 

[Max93]

Ok Kole tang woke up with 4 white dots. Image is blurry but you can clearly see 2 white dots on him.

I think I may have to just jump in and start reducing the salinity slowly now without the calibration fluid. Is it okay if it takes me 72 hours to reduce the salinity ?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Ok Kole tang woke up with 4 white dots. Image is blurry but you can clearly see 2 white dots on him.

I think I may have to just jump in and start reducing the salinity slowly now without the calibration fluid. Is it okay if it takes me 72 hours to reduce the salinity ?

72 hours drop time is fine for that fish.

Just checking - it looks like this tank has been set up for some time and maybe had invertebrates in it? You may find that the algae and the "microfauna" in the tank will not survive the drop to 1.009. You should monitor the tank's ammonia level for perhaps five days after the drop to ensure that these items don't die and foul the water. If they do, you'll need to do water changes and/or add ammonia removing chemicals to the water for a time.

Jay

 

[angelsandtangs]

Alright guys couple questions:

i am going to begin hypo this Sunday. The reason why I’m not doing it today or tomorrow is because I work a ton. Also, I have calibration fluid on the way that should arrive Friday so I can make sure my refractometer is spot on.

I will update here once I begin and track the whole thing. Hopefully this helps others.

questions:

1. will hypo kill all my beneficial bacteria in my display?
2. If so, should I have some microbacter handy so I can help out the bacteria population once I increase the SG again?

I went hypo many years ago on a packed 300 fowlr I had some algae growth not much deep sand bed and experienced zero ammonia spike I tested and kept a seachem alert thing on it I did it over 3 days and used a python to remove water and would remove detritus from the tank and sumo as I was taking water out .. had zero fish loss from ick kept it for 5 weeks than added salt slowly for a week and all the pods and even the small feather dusters came back and was ick free until added fish I didn’t QT so I just managed it from there going forward ..

 

[Max93]

Hi Jay,

this tank has gone through a very slow cycle. I added fish after four months.

I have already started removing all of my inverts/corals into the quarantine so I can start hypo in the display.

Please let me know if this is good to do:

1. have saltwater ready at 1.008 level ready to go incase of ammonia spike.

2. have microbacter in hand to throw into the aquarium once we are done with the 30 days of hypo.

remember I am doing all of this in the display, so I can’t take out one fish and dip it in RO because the ich will still be present in the display.

3. All algae will die so remove my algae turf scrubber too. what ammonia product should I use?

 

[Max93]

I went hypo many years ago on a packed 300 fowlr I had some algae growth not much deep sand bed and experienced zero ammonia spike I tested and kept a seachem alert thing on it I did it over 3 days and used a python to remove water and would remove detritus from the tank and sumo as I was taking water out .. had zero fish loss from ick kept it for 5 weeks than added salt slowly for a week and all the pods and even the small feather dusters came back and was ick free until added fish I didn’t QT so I just managed it from there going forward ..

Good to hear, ran skimmer the whole time correct?

 

[angelsandtangs]

Good to hear, ran skimmer the whole time correct?

Yes sir

 

[Max93]

So nervous to begin this, but I cannot let these fish die. This is meant to be a fully packed acro tank so I’m glad it happened before I had any acros but man how irritating.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hi Jay,

this tank has gone through a very slow cycle. I added fish after four months.

I have already started removing all of my inverts/corals into the quarantine so I can start hypo in the display.

Please let me know if this is good to do:

1. have saltwater ready at 1.008 level ready to go incase of ammonia spike.

2. have microbacter in hand to throw into the aquarium once we are done with the 30 days of hypo.

remember I am doing all of this in the display, so I can’t take out one fish and dip it in RO because the ich will still be present in the display.

3. All algae will die so remove my algae turf scrubber too. what ammonia product should I use?

1.008 specific gravity is too low for some species of fish. It is a real tightrope walk - 1.008 is too low and 1.010 may let ich slide through. 1.009 measured with a lab grade hydrometer is what I do. Please be aware that uronema and Amyloodinium/velvet thrive at low salinity, and I've seen ich just be replaced by those diseases.

You just need to watch for an ammonia spike, you never can really tell if you'll see one or not. Same thing when people dose with chloroquine - in some tanks everything is fine, in other tanks, the ammonia spikes really high.

Jay

 

[Max93]

1.008 specific gravity is too low for some species of fish. It is a real tightrope walk - 1.008 is too low and 1.010 may let ich slide through. 1.009 measured with a lab grade hydrometer is what I do. Please be aware that uronema and Amyloodinium/velvet thrive at low salinity, and I've seen ich just be replaced by those diseases.

You just need to watch for an ammonia spike, you never can really tell if you'll see one or not. Same thing when people dose with chloroquine - in some tanks everything is fine, in other tanks, the ammonia spikes really high.

Jay

Understood, I’ll aim for 1.009.

for the uronema- I thought I had this once but it was actually a bacteria and the lyretail completely healed.
Maybe I don’t have ich? I don’t know Jay I am so very confused. The white dots that pop up and disappear look like ich, and the scratching, but then the blue hippo with what looks like black ich.
Maybe I should just run prazi first before trying hypo and see if it goes? There’s so many things I am really not sure about my diagnosis.

 

[Justin_Reef]

I did hypo in my display at 1.009 on two separate occasions, once with horrible results and once with great success.

The first time, I lowered the salinity over 3 days and got a massive ammonia spike, lost a fish and had to do twice daily 100G water changes to keep things safe. This went on for about a week. I dosed Microbacter 7 which I think helped.

A year later, I added some macro algae without QTing it and got ich again. This time, removed inverts and then lowered the salinity 0.002 per day. It took a while to lower to 1.009. I did daily water changes and siphoned out all the worms and algae that were dying off. I dosed microbater 7 each day and had no ammonia spikes. Left the tank in hypo for 2 months and have been ich free since.

This second time I also raised the salinity over 2 weeks. I was in no rush since my corals and inverts had to stay in QT for another month or so anyways.

The second method was really stress free for me.

 

[Justin_Reef]

I also treated my fish for internal parasites while in hypo the second time, and I am glad I did. I found that a few fish ended up having worms. Which explained why they had not been growing fast.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Understood, I’ll aim for 1.009.

for the uronema- I thought I had this once but it was actually a bacteria and the lyretail completely healed.
Maybe I don’t have ich? I don’t know Jay I am so very confused. The white dots that pop up and disappear look like ich, and the scratching, but then the blue hippo with what looks like black ich.
Maybe I should just run prazi first before trying hypo and see if it goes? There’s so many things I am really not sure about my diagnosis.

Hypo helps with flukes and turbellarians as well as ich, so I think hat covers most of the possible diagnoses here.
Jay

 

[Max93]

Thanks for the reassurance and experiences.

we know I have something and all those somethings can be treated with Hypo. I will reduce salinity very slowly, starting this Sunday.

@Justin_Reef for microbacter - you dosed this while you were in hypo AND afterwards ?

 

[jmichaelh7]

Good thing you don’t have $1000s of coral sps that will die off … ugh so frustrating

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Thanks for the reassurance and experiences.

we know I have something and all those somethings can be treated with Hypo. I will reduce salinity very slowly, starting this Sunday.

@Justin_Reef for microbacter - you dosed this while you were in hypo AND afterwards ?

Wait, if your fish have active disease, you need to get the fish into hypo fast, not slow. You should start today and then through multiple small water replacements, be at 1.009 by Monday night at the latest. If you delay it, the hypo may well fail because the disease(s) get too much of a head start. Ich reproduces geometrically and your fish could be very sick by Sunday, and then you would still have three days to get to 1.009

Jay