Hyposalinity

[btkrausen]

So, after getting ich in my brand new setup, I want to do hypo to cure the current fish (only 3 of them) and rid the ich from my tank. I know that with ich, they say to leave fishless for 8 weeks, but if doing hypo on the display tank, I can get away with the 4-5 weeks of hypo, correct?

I just want to be sure that if I go through this that the 5 weeks after the last noticeable cyst on the fish will be sufficient to kill the ich.

 

[btkrausen]

Also will be keeping the tank level with the Osmolator, which keeps the water level almost perfect, changing filter socks more often, and keeping the skimmer running just to force oxygen into the water during the treatment. Am I going about this the correct way?

 

[holdyourlight]

You have the right idea. Get the tank down to 1.008. Expect lots of die off from the rocks. You will need lots of H20 changes as well. When you raise the salinity back up go VERY slowly like .001 per day

 

[btkrausen]

The tank is so new, there is nothing in there to die off, haha. I started with all dead rock, and haven't seeded with anything, so it kinda works out. I took out my two big snails and hermits.

Should I be doing like 40 gal water changes per week? The tank is 220 with about 40gal in the sump

 

[btkrausen]

Slowly but surely getting my salinity down. I haven't had much time, so I've been replacing only about 10-15 gal of water per day with pure RO water. I'm down to around 1.012, maybe a tad lower since I replaced another 5 gal tonight.

Fish all seem to be doing fine, swimming around like nothing has changed. They are looking better and are still eating well.

 

[jaytizzle]

If you've got the patience to hold it for 5 weeks, I think it'd be rather foolish to not go to 8 weeks. You'd have done all of the hard work already, just a matter of finishing it out. The peace of mind alone would be worth it to me.

 

[btkrausen]

But doesn't hypo kill them in less than the 8 week span? I believe the 8-9 week period is for when I just leave my tank fishless. Hypo will kill inverts much sooner, and you don't have to wait out their life cycle.

This is what I've read on it, there is a good thread on it on RC.

 

[jaytizzle]

I understand that there is good info out there and that yes, it will probably kill in 5 weeks instead of 8. That being said, what's the rush? Is it going to be that big of a pain to wait another 3 weeks after you've already done all of the hard work to get down and hold at 1.008? Just being logical here. If it's a 97% chance versus a 99% chance, I'd rather be patient. Not saying that's the case, though.