im trying hyposalinity because of an outbreak of ich,my current salinity level is at 1.016.my question is how low do i go?and when will i see results?its been a week and my angelfish is still covered in it,my other 2 clownfish are looking good though.i would appreciate anyone with knowledge on this matter to chime in at anytime,this is my first attempt to cure sick fish.
hyposalinity?
- Thread starter jony nuemonic
- Start date
99.999% of the time, hypo is not effective unless salinity is between 1.008 and 1.010. You have to religiously monitor that measurement, on a daily basis...for roughly 2 - 4 weeks.
Anything lower than 1.008 and you're gonna end up with a whiped out tank.
Anything above 1.010 and you're not gonna kill the parasite.
Anything lower than 1.008 and you're gonna end up with a whiped out tank.
Anything above 1.010 and you're not gonna kill the parasite.
hyposalinity is a great way to cure marine ich. it doesnt kill the 'spot'. but it kills the free floating larvae that the 'spot' releases. thats why i think trying to cure ich with fresh water dips is a poinless exersise. as the parasite doesnt get exposed to the FW as it has burrowed into the fleash of the infected fish. hyposalinity kills the parasite at its most vunerable stage. during the time its searching for something to burrow into.
when my tank had an outbreak of ich i removed all my fish an put them in QT. i set the tank up at 1.012 SG and drip aclimatized them in over a period of a few hours. then they stayed in QT for a month, while the main tank ran as normal. inverts stay in the main tank. as they are not affected by ich, but the larvae can sit and wait on them and the rocks/sand for up to a month before breaking out and start seeking out a host.
see the think is with marine ich... in the wild it isnt anywhere as deadly as in aquaria. obviously in the wild each spot will release many many larvae into the ocean. which will drift off in the ocean with no guarrentee that any will find a host. they will sit on rocks and coral till they wake up and seek out a host. but they have at most 18hrs to do this otherwise they die. the odds of finding a suitable host in this time are slim.
in aquaria, the disease takes advantage of the confined space, as the odds of each larvae finding a host increase dramatically. due to the fact that the larvae will stay in the same water as the potential host, and not drift off and die. in aquaria the disease can find a host in less than an hour. and more of the larvae will come into contact with the same fish, so the fish gets covered in ich.
anyway. i used hyposalinity as i had a puffer fish, and theyre sensitive to copper, the active ingredient in most meds. inverts are sensitive to copper too. so thats coral, crabs, prawns, starfish, nudibranch, and all the bacteria that we rely on to filter our tanks.
so if you do use meds chech what the active ingredient is before you add it to your tank! otherwise you could kill everything. even that really expensive live rock. i wouldnt use meds in my tank. but thats my choice. if i needed to medicate fish it would be done in QT.
when my tank had an outbreak of ich i removed all my fish an put them in QT. i set the tank up at 1.012 SG and drip aclimatized them in over a period of a few hours. then they stayed in QT for a month, while the main tank ran as normal. inverts stay in the main tank. as they are not affected by ich, but the larvae can sit and wait on them and the rocks/sand for up to a month before breaking out and start seeking out a host.
see the think is with marine ich... in the wild it isnt anywhere as deadly as in aquaria. obviously in the wild each spot will release many many larvae into the ocean. which will drift off in the ocean with no guarrentee that any will find a host. they will sit on rocks and coral till they wake up and seek out a host. but they have at most 18hrs to do this otherwise they die. the odds of finding a suitable host in this time are slim.
in aquaria, the disease takes advantage of the confined space, as the odds of each larvae finding a host increase dramatically. due to the fact that the larvae will stay in the same water as the potential host, and not drift off and die. in aquaria the disease can find a host in less than an hour. and more of the larvae will come into contact with the same fish, so the fish gets covered in ich.
anyway. i used hyposalinity as i had a puffer fish, and theyre sensitive to copper, the active ingredient in most meds. inverts are sensitive to copper too. so thats coral, crabs, prawns, starfish, nudibranch, and all the bacteria that we rely on to filter our tanks.
so if you do use meds chech what the active ingredient is before you add it to your tank! otherwise you could kill everything. even that really expensive live rock. i wouldnt use meds in my tank. but thats my choice. if i needed to medicate fish it would be done in QT.
hypo works well. When practice correctly can be a very positive experience for the fish, and for you. The most important times are lowering and raising the salinity. Distress is common if these changes occur to quickly and can cause the fish to stop eating or catch a different type of illness. its best performed outside of the display tank in a QT or hospital tank. Read the third paragraph under treatment option 4.
read this
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-08/sp/index.php
read this
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-08/sp/index.php