How long before you see results from hyposalinity treatment?

[deputydog95]

Don't bother with the Kick Ich. It's a waste of money. Not to mention it will cost a small fortune to properly treat a tank depending on the size. There is nothing in the kick ich that is better than hypo treatment. I'm amazed at how well it work and how nicely the fish all healed up.

I wish I could have transplanted some of the tiny inverts and rocks. Problem is I would have needed a 100 plus gallon tank to swallow all that. Oh well.

To get my salinity down, I just get pumping water out and adding RODI in. I've been maintaining about 1.010 1.009 for about 2 weeks now. I'll probably give it another two weeks based on what everyone is saying.

Question though. I'm going to have to restock my tank at some point. Wouldn't I be better off restocking during the hypo treatment to insure that any new fish specimens are free of parasites? I've read that a couple large public aquariums maintain their holding tanks at low salinities just for that reason. After a period of time, they then move them into the main tanks.

 

[LargeAngels]

Better off buying a 20 or 30 gallon tank and using it as a QT with a simple filter, heater and some PVC piping. That way you can either treat for ich or velvet.

 

[ahullsb]

I still don't like the idea of killing off all your crabs and inverts to run hypo in your display....But I'm glad the hypo is working. In the future you can do this cheaply by using a rubbermaid garbage can instead.

 

[deputydog95]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10687469#post10687469 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ahullsb
I still don't like the idea of killing off all your crabs and inverts to run hypo in your display....But I'm glad the hypo is working. In the future you can do this cheaply by using a rubbermaid garbage can instead.

Believe me, if there was an easier way to do it, I would have. Unfortunately all my fish got sick at the same time. I would have needed a pretty big tank to house them all. 30 gallons would not have cut it. Not to mention things were doing downhill quickly and I didn't have a lot of time to setup another tank.

I also have a ton of live rock. I guess I could have pulled all the rock out and put it in a can, but it would have to have been a damn big rubbermaid can. In retrospect, that may have been a better way to go. My live rock looks pretty crappy now that it's been in the low salinity for a few weeks at this point.

I would have preferred to not let the inverts die off. I had had some of them for several years. However, the reef safe kick ich killed most of them long before I dropped the salinity (which I'm still ****ed about). Basically it was a financial decision at the end. I only had a couple small crabs and a few shrimp left, but probably close to a $1000 worth of fish in there. I had no way of getting the inverts out (this is a pretty large tank wtih a lot of rock) without removing all the rock. In retrospect, I suppose I could have transferred the rock to a couple trash cans, but the grief from wife about having trash cans in the living room would have been endless

There are definitely times when a small tank is preferable. Sometimes I regret putting a 6 foot sump under my tank. I could have put a hospital tank in there if I had used a smaller sump. It is nice having the space for the skimmers, reactors, and the rest of the crap though.

The hypo treatment did work well though. The fish look great and healed up nicely. I am going to start bringing the salinity back up in the very near future and work on restocking the tank with the fish I lost due to the ich.

 

[Zoom]

I am going to start bringing the salinity back up in the very near future and work on restocking the tank with the fish I lost due to the ich.

I did said go easyyyyyyy right
I lost fish for not going slow....Two weeks to get it back up to normal salinity minimum.

 

[deputydog95]

That's my plan. At least two weeks.

 

[deputydog95]

Wouldn't you know it? I went and put two new fish in. Now the whole tank is coming down with ich again. It must be something in my tank. This is really getting annoying at this point. I've already started dropping the salinity again. Looks like I'll run it for at least 6 weeks this time. Little buggers won't die.....

 

[Zoom]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10850954#post10850954 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by deputydog95
Wouldn't you know it? I went and put two new fish in. Now the whole tank is coming down with ich again. It must be something in my tank. This is really getting annoying at this point. I've already started dropping the salinity again. Looks like I'll run it for at least 6 weeks this time. Little buggers won't die.....

You will never stop getting ICK . ICK is always in the tank , is in mine any way, every time some fish get stress ICK spots start to show up .
The best way is to just keep trying to eliminate the parasites constantly.
I think my next tank is going to be a wet dry set up so i can medicate the fish when ever ICK start to show . If i need to.... i get a dinatrator they are many good one now. I'm just to tired to have to catch the fish and treat them and after six weeks when i put the fish back in the tank they come down with Ick again .

 

[wolf pup]

Zoom - it appears from my reading on this site and a few others that Ich has a life cycle - it does not have to always be "in the tank." Break the life cycle using the tried and true methods on this forum and you will never have ich again (presuming you follow good QT on new fish) I had the same fish for over 5 years with no Ich despite some major stresses (tank temp down to 68, nitrate spike over 200, 80% water loss and corresponding refill with 30 second old salt mix.) Broke QT rule and got ich within a week. I'm letting my display remain without fish for 60 days as it is my understanding that the ich will not be able to complete their life cycle and will die. I learned a very hard lesson on getting complacent. I lost all but one of my fish. I am not going through that again.

DeputyDog - I'm concerned about your experience with ich killing your inverts. It is also my understanding that ich is a fish disease and does not affect inverts. Any possibility that they were victims of something else? I am very sorry for your tank losses but it sounds like you are on top of the situation. Please let us know how it turns out as many of us have been in the same situation. My very unwelcome .02 is not to "treat" ich but to "cure" it.

 

[Zoom]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10853093#post10853093 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by wolf pup
Zoom - it appears from my reading on this site and a few others that Ich has a life cycle - it does not have to always be "in the tank." Break the life cycle using the tried and true methods on this forum and you will never have ich again (presuming you follow good QT on new fish) I had the same fish for over 5 years with no Ich despite some major stresses (tank temp down to 68, nitrate spike over 200, 80% water loss and corresponding refill with 30 second old salt mix.) Broke QT rule and got ich within a week. I'm letting my display remain without fish for 60 days as it is my understanding that the ich will not be able to complete their life cycle and will die. I learned a very hard lesson on getting complacent. I lost all but one of my fish. I am not going through that again.

.02 is not to "treat" ich but to "cure" it.

How can you break the life Cycle the tank is 14 years old full of corals and Live rock seven foot long tank some fish in this tank are 14 years old .
My tank has ick all the time any new fish gets it even after quarantine them they just fight it out or die most of them they get ick for two or three cycles and the ICK disappears .
ICK is always is present in my tank.
Is no way i can Break the cycle with out taking the tank down .
I don't like to do that just because I have ICK in my tank .
Even if I quarantine any new fish I still need to treat the fish with parasite medicine OR hypo so they don't have any hiding parasites in there gills.

 

[wolf pup]

Zoom,

I completely respect the fact that you have been keeping tanks for quite some time and are obviously both knowledgeable and experienced. I do want you to know that I understand and sympathize with your situation. I would imagine (and this is only from a problem solving perspective and NOT in any way to be considered advice) that you would need to get the fish out one by one - cure the ich in a hospital tank and then have someone "foster" the fish for 45 days after all the fish are out of the tank. The ich cycle would break and you could bring your fish home. I don't imagine that I would go through all this. I couldn't even to begin to imagine what sort of negative effect this would have on such a well established tank. Please know that it does sadden me that fish might have to "fight it out or die" but everyone's experience can be different.

 

[Zoom]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10856226#post10856226 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by wolf pup
Zoom,

I completely respect the fact that you have been keeping tanks for quite some time and are obviously both knowledgeable and experienced. I do want you to know that I understand and sympathize with your situation. I would imagine (and this is only from a problem solving perspective and NOT in any way to be considered advice) that you would need to get the fish out one by one - cure the ich in a hospital tank and then have someone "foster" the fish for 45 days after all the fish are out of the tank. The ich cycle would break and you could bring your fish home. I don't imagine that I would go through all this. I couldn't even to begin to imagine what sort of negative effect this would have on such a well established tank. Please know that it does sadden me that fish might have to "fight it out or die" but everyone's experience can be different.

I understand what you saying But so far i lost only one fish to Ick on this big tank. I do have a 90g quarantine tank that i use for all my corals and new fish but belive me the ICK is always present in my tank even now . I have no Ick in my tank for ten Months but when i turn the light Off for four days to try to kill some dinos when the lights came back on , some of my fish had ick after two cycles the ick was no where to be found .

 

[heuerfan]

Any updates Deputy with your battle?

 

[deputydog95]

Looks like I may have beaten it. I scheduled for 6 weeks this time around to make sure it was all dead. 4 weeks wasn't enough last time. This Saturday will be 6 weeks. From there, I'll spend a week bring it back up to normal.

The fish seem to be okay in this environment. However, the low salinity has killed most of my coraline and spawned some sort of crazy green sheet algae. Which fortunately for me, is very easy to clean.

I'm looking forward to getting the tank back to normal.

 

[heuerfan]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11174091#post11174091 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by deputydog95
Looks like I may have beaten it. I scheduled for 6 weeks this time around to make sure it was all dead. 4 weeks wasn't enough last time. This Saturday will be 6 weeks. From there, I'll spend a week bring it back up to normal.

The fish seem to be okay in this environment. However, the low salinity has killed most of my coraline and spawned some sort of crazy green sheet algae. Which fortunately for me, is very easy to clean.

I'm looking forward to getting the tank back to normal.

Congrats, thats good news. Do you know if any life survived the hypo, like bristle worms, amphipods, feather dusters, etc...

You could also start dosing your tank with alk and calc to bring the purple coraline back to the rocks.

 

[deputydog95]

Yeah, I'll fire up my CA reactor once things settle down.

And no, I don't think any of the inverts survived. I will probably buy a few small pieces of aqua culture rock to seed it after the salinity is back to normal.

By the way, your pm box is full and wouldn't take my message.

 

[deputydog95]

Just checking back in. The hypo worked great. 6 weeks was the trick. Wish I had done 6 weeks instead of 4 the first time I tried it. I took about a week to bring the salinity up, so I think it's been almost 8 weeks since my second go around. The tank is bouncing back nicely. The rocks are already purpling back up. The fish are eating well. The weird algae is gone. I hated doing this in the main tank, but it just wasn't an option to try and relocate so many large expensive fish. I give it another two weeks and it will be completely back to normal.