How gradually should salinity be lowered?

[Lotus99]

I used this article when doing hypo (there's a schedule of how much to change and when): http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/hyposalinity.html

I'm not saying it's the definitive method, but it didn't kill my fish.

 

[tmz]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12589620#post12589620 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Lotus99
I used this article when doing hypo (there's a schedule of how much to change and when): http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/hyposalinity.html

I'm not saying it's the definitive method, but it didn't kill my fish.

Thanks for the link the point in it about denitrifying bacteria is important. as the article suggests. I have never seen a fall off in denitrification in the qt tank with a 48hour drop( ie seeded material placed in the qt continued to maintain zero ammonia).

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12589969#post12589969 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tmz
Thanks for the link the point in it about denitrifying bacteria is important. as the article suggests. I have never seen a fall off in denitrification in the qt tank with a 48hour drop( ie seeded material placed in the qt continued to maintain zero ammonia).

thanks for your links above---esp on fish osmoregulation--been looking for that one for awhile

As always I find you posts most accurate and based on your vast knowledge and experience in this hobby:smokin:

 

[Hamp]

I wish that I would have read this thread last week. I have slowly been dropping my sg to 1.012 as of now over the last few days in which time my frogfish has become horribly infested. I will drop to .009 right now, but do you think a medication at this point would improve his chances?

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12590049#post12590049 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Hamp
I wish that I would have read this thread last week. I have slowly been dropping my sg to 1.012 as of now over the last few days in which time my frogfish has become horribly infested. I will drop to .009 right now, but do you think a medication at this point would improve his chances?

reefers use a combination of hypo and copper based medications
Tmz,I know for one does--he can probably fill you in better then me

 

[tmz]

A formalin bath might relieve the fish of some of the parasites on the skin but won't get at those in the fish. Unfortunately they will thrive there untill they are done twisting and consuming fish flesh. If you have hypo at 1.009 when they rehatch it shoud kill them and prevent a third reinfestation.

I have used both hyposalinity and copper. I have sometimes used them at the same time but I don't really know if the lower salinity has any effects which make the copper more dangerous or not( I don't believe it does from my experience but can't find a definate answer yet) so I would be reluctant to do it unless the situation was very critical. I also don't know wether or not a Frogfish is highly sensitive to copper or not. there is lot's of speculation about copper sensitivity but very few facts.

If you have another tank you might consider moving the fish into new water,cleaning out the tank he is in and refillling it with hypo water and then putting him back. That will get rid of a lot of the parasites.
In fact if you wish , you can transfer the fish back and forth into a clean tank every 3 days with or without hyposalinity for a total of four transfers. This elegant approach known as the tank transfer method leaves the ich behind and the four transfers at 3 day intervals should be plenty to allow those in the fish to exit.It is especially usefull for copper sensitive fish and those such as sharks an rays who may have difficulty with osmoregulation.

Good Luck

 

[tmz]

Cap'n Thankyou for your very kind words.

 

[Hamp]

Thank you very much Tom. I think I can find another tank around somewhere. Should I remove filter on the penguine in between tanks, and maybe let it dry or rinse it out?

 

[tmz]

Removing the bacteria wheel will effect your dentrification a bit but ich lives in wetness. I'm sorry to say this but if you do heal your fish you won't be able to put him back in your display tank untill that tank has remained fishless for at least 6 weeks to 72 days . Even if there are fish in there that are not showing signs of ich they are likely to be hosting at least enough of it to keep it viable and it will probably attack your frogfish on reentry.
Moitor ammonia in your treatment tanks. No need to worry about nitrite in salt water.If you can keep some ammonia detoxifier on had for emergencies.

 

[victor90]

I was wondering will my aptasia die also in the hypo treatment
Thanks

 

[otrlynn]

Thank you all for the information. Lotus 99 thanks for the reference; it is now in "my favorites". The instruction to replace about one-fifth of the saltwater with RO every 12 hours was very helpful. This results in dropping the salinity over a period of 48 hours. Fish are going to the hospital tank tonight. Wish me luck in getting the fish out safely! I will never, ever, add a fish to the disply without the FULL quarantine period. I did QT the kole tang, but only for 10 days. He was not eating well and I wanted to get him to the live rock to pick at. What I realized is that even if he did not make it in QT, that would have been a loss of one fish; my actions put my whole display at risk. I'm paying the price now. Fellow newbies, learn from my mistake!

 

[Freed]

Hypo will negatively affect, i.e. kill, most inverts and corals.

As far as I have read, hypo AND salinity should not be performed at the same time.

 

[Freed]

I QT ALL corals, inverts and fish that go into my display. Actually, anything wet SHOULD be QT'd without fish for 4-6 weeks to ensure any ich has been eliminated so the main display isn't affected.

Right now I have an aussie elegance in QT that had parasitic crabs attached to it when I put it in there. They almost killed the elegance until I removed them. It is now making an amazing comeback. If I would have put it in the main display WITHOUT QT, it is possible the crabs could have mulitplied and moved to other LPS and did the same thing.

I also have a 3 large hairy mushrooms in the QT as well as pumping xenia and purple cespitularia. NOTHING goes into the display unless QT'd. I have had ZERO issues with ich after utilizing proper QT before adding anything to the display.

 

[tmz]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12590512#post12590512 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ATB USA
I was wondering will my aptasia die also in the hypo treatment
Thanks

Can't tell if you are asking or concluding from your post. If you think they die because they can't osmoregulate you are correct. They as other inverts have internal fluid levels equal in sg to the surrounding water. This is also one of the reasions corals anemones and other inverts are much more sensitive to salinity swings than fish.

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12590181#post12590181 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tmz
A formalin bath might relieve the fish of some of the parasites on the skin but won't get at those in the fish. Unfortunately they will thrive there untill they are done twisting and consuming fish flesh. If you have hypo at 1.009 when they rehatch it shoud kill them and prevent a third reinfestation.

I have used both hyposalinity and copper. I have sometimes used them at the same time but I don't really know if the lower salinity has any effects which make the copper more dangerous or not( I don't believe it does from my experience but can't find a definate answer yet) so I would be reluctant to do it unless the situation was very critical. I also don't know wether or not a Frogfish is highly sensitive to copper or not. there is lot's of speculation about copper sensitivity but very few facts.

If you have another tank you might consider moving the fish into new water,cleaning out the tank he is in and refillling it with hypo water and then putting him back. That will get rid of a lot of the parasites.
In fact if you wish , you can transfer the fish back and forth into a clean tank every 3 days with or without hyposalinity for a total of four transfers. This elegant approach known as the tank transfer method leaves the ich behind and the four transfers at 3 day intervals should be plenty to allow those in the fish to exit.It is especially usefull for copper sensitive fish and those such as sharks an rays who may have difficulty with osmoregulation.

Good Luck

there seems to be three accepted methods of dealing with ich on this site;

hyposalinity

use of copper based medications

tank transfers as mentioned above

all these methods use a quarantine tank and can't be done on the display tank so the other initial steps would be to quarantine all fish purchase for 4-6 weeks before adding them to the display tank

here is a detailed how to for hyposalination
http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/hyposalinity.html