success using hyposalinity

K

Kay

Have any members used the hyposalinity method for clearing ich out of your tank? That's leaving the main tank fish free for 8 weeks, fish in qt tank for 6-8 weeks at 1.009? I would like to know if anyone's been successful with this or is copper the only sure way?

I'm on my sixth week now and getting impatient. I still think I see something on my blue tang after 4 weeks, but it's hard to see. I need strong reading glasses to see it. It may not be ich. So I'm not sure if it's working. Any advice out there?

Kay
 
Yes,
I have had success and failures. Success in eliminating ich from the main tank and my fish, failures in some of my fish dying in QT. Helpful hints:

1. Get the largest tank possible for your QT. It will help reduce the stress on your fish.

2. DO NOT cross contaminate water. We accidently introduced water from the fishless main into the QT and saw an immediate ich outbreak the following day. Of course we had to reset the 6 week timer! :evil:

3. Patience. I know I know I know. It suck waiting.

4. QT EVERYTHING you get that can carry ich for at least 4 weeks (mounted (on rock) corals, snails, crabs. Fish, I place in the QT tank and start hypo as a precaution immediately.

Hope this helps. Feel free to ask any questions.
 
Kay,


I have had a lot of success with hyposalinity in the treatment of ICH in my tank. At this point, all new fish entering the system get a 6 week Hypo stop in QT before being introduced to the main tank.

The first trip down the hypo route was for the entire tank. This was a pain as I had all my fish (8 or so) in a 46 gal tank. I ran into lots of problems and lost one fish that time around. Basically I was lazy with water changes and keeping the tank as clean as it should have been.

The second trip down hypo was to introduce 2 new fish. This time it was not nearly as bad as I kept up water changes on a regular basis (every few days). This was also easier since QT this time was a 20gal Tall. I would simply pull water out of QT and dump, then pull water from the display (ich free at this point) and put it in QT, then add fresh water to the main tank. NOTE: I had to adjust the tank water's salinity during treatment but not when I was bringing the fish back to full salinity.

The biggest thing I learned the second time around was to bring the salinity up slowly. Where as I brought the salinity down in a few days, it should take a week plus to bring it back up. I tried to only bring up the salinity in .002 increments with 24 hours between each water change. I made sure these water changes where from the main tank to ensure the fish are getting acclimatized to the main tank at the same time.

Hang in there, it is worth in then end.
 
I was under the impression that invertibrates were not to be placed in a hyposalinity situation? I could be wrong about that. I was also under the impression that invertibrates did not carry ich.
 
@Tremelle wrote:
I was under the impression that invertibrates were not to be placed in a hyposalinity situation? I could be wrong about that. I was also under the impression that invertibrates did not carry ich. said:
Invertibrates them selves do not carry ich. Shells that inveribrates use and rock that vertibrates attatch to can carry ich. Since invertibrates can not withstand hyposalinity, the process to kill ich is to leave them in QT with regular salinity without any fish for at least 4 weeks thereby leaving the ich without any fish host to complete the life cycle.
Click to expand...
 
I've had a lot of success with hypo. A properly calibrated refractometer is a must for accuracy. There's a fine line between killing ich and killing the fish your trying to "save", so follow instructions carefully. Also monitor your PH. It tends to want to fall when the S.G. gets toward 1.009. I would recommend a meter for PH measurement, not a test kit.
Keeping up with water changes (to keep the tank from cycling) can be a real chore. I run my QT all the time. I have a HOB filter with bio wheel and never have to deal with the tank cycling, making the job easier and less stressful for all.
 
Thanks for all advice. I think my hardest thing is to see if there's any ich. I need strong reading glasses and don't see it. But I thought I saw some four weeks into it, not sure. Should I start all over?

I have refractromer, have kept it at 1.009 except for maybe once or twice got up to 1.010 after water change. I lost two fish early on due to secondary infections probably. Main tank has been fallow 7 weeks now. But I added a coral (didn't realize) to main tank that might carry ich?

All my fish are doing great. I'm tempted to raise salinity in a separate qt tank on one of my fish that is getting picked on, then observing it. This particular fish, a foxface, never showed the signs of ich at any time. Both my qt tanks are cycled.

Kay
 
I've never done it, but I read it must be 1.009 the entire time, and can't go up to 1.010 or you have to reset the clock. :(
 
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