Hypo Not Working?

[krzyphsygy]

I have 3 Yellow Streak Cardinals that I purchased a couple weeks ago, placed them in QT and now ich has shown it ugly face. Over the course of 1 week I lowered the SG to 1.009 as directed and the ich is still there.

Does it take a while for it to start to go away? Or should it have already died??

Seems like like it has no effect on the fish. And no effect on the ich as well.

I am using a calibrated refractometer to measure SG. I planned on a 4 week hypo treatment.

 

[Spar]

How long ago did the decrease to 1.009 finalize? If just a day or so, then very possible it is still noticeable. But it will drop off quick.

Make sure the 4 weeks starts when you see NO Ich anymore. I do 5-6 weeks just in case.

When you say "calibrated refractometer" do you mean it is calibrated to 35ppt solution or calibrated to RO/DI water? If you calibrated to 35ppt, then your reading will be skewed. If you are showing 1.009 you are likely really at around 1.011. I personally calibrate with 35ppt and then make sure my Hypo water measures at 1.007 using that same refractometer. It will really be between 1.008-1.009 that way. Just the way it works without getting too much into the science of things... may not make sense at face value.

 

[MrTuskfish]

The "white spots" are not a reliable indicator of ich and the ich life-cycle. Hypo will only kill ich in its free-swimming stage and the white spots aren't even the parasite. the spots are basically scar tissue and the parasite is buried under the skin. Its been years since I used hypo, but I don't think ich spots showing up after a week would be impossible. You have the right idea with the refractometer, another problem is top-off due to evaporation, just a few mins. over 1.009 SG can ruin the treatment process. FWIW; I just don't like hypo, its too demanding and seems to fail quite often. I also think some strains of ich may be tolerant of the 1.009 SG. I'm not saying it won't work; it works very well for some folks, but it seems hypo is failing more & more.

 

[krzyphsygy]

How long ago did the decrease to 1.009 finalize? If just a day or so, then very possible it is still noticeable. But it will drop off quick.

Make sure the 4 weeks starts when you see NO Ich anymore. I do 5-6 weeks just in case.

When you say "calibrated refractometer" do you mean it is calibrated to 35ppt solution or calibrated to RO/DI water? If you calibrated to 35ppt, then your reading will be skewed. If you are showing 1.009 you are likely really at around 1.011. I personally calibrate with 35ppt and then make sure my Hypo water measures at 1.007 using that same refractometer. It will really be between 1.008-1.009 that way. Just the way it works without getting too much into the science of things... may not make sense at face value.

I calibrate it to zero with R/O and then put the 35ppt and see what it reads and its dead on.

Its only been a day in true 1.009 readings so we will see.

 

[krzyphsygy]

The "white spots" are not a reliable indicator of ich and the ich life-cycle. Hypo will only kill ich in its free-swimming stage and the white spots aren't even the parasite. the spots are basically scar tissue and the parasite is buried under the skin. Its been years since I used hypo, but I don't think ich spots showing up after a week would be impossible. You have the right idea with the refractometer, another problem is top-off due to evaporation, just a few mins. over 1.009 SG can ruin the treatment process. FWIW; I just don't like hypo, its too demanding and seems to fail quite often. I also think some strains of ich may be tolerant of the 1.009 SG. I'm not saying it won't work; it works very well for some folks, but it seems hypo is failing more & more.

Thats not encouraging....if you have not used it in years, why would you say its failing. Is that based on others experience? My fish still have several white spots...in fact they are fully covered in it. They are doing very well though. They dont scratch, they eat like pigs, and do not seem lethatgic at all. Also no haze over the eyes.
These guys are pretty hardy as is so seems like nothing is effecting them. Also feels and looks like I could even lower the SG more if needed.

Not sure where to go from here..been 3 days in hypo. Ill just wait it out. I have Copper med so if hypo does not work in 4 weeks I will try copper. Of course after raising SG back.

 

[Spar]

Interesting they arent dropping off! I have only had experience with one fish that had noticeable Ich when going into treatment. I don't recall seeing the Ich even being visible by the next day...

I know it sucks waiting, but lets see how they look after 5-7 days of 1.009. Try soaking their food in some garlic extract supplement during this time which will help the process as well.

For what its worth I do know a person who successfully keeps his QT at 1.009 and also uses copper. Have never seen any ill effects from it. I personally can't get myself to try it though...

 

[MrTuskfish]

Thats not encouraging....if you have not used it in years, why would you say its failing. Is that based on others experience?

I spend a lot of free time on this forum section and there are more & more folks who have experienced failure of hypo. Follow-up posts seem to say that the procedure is usually done properly. IMO, tank-transfer is the best way for most people to treat ich.

 

[krzyphsygy]

I spend a lot of free time on this forum section and there are more & more folks who have experienced failure of hypo. Follow-up posts seem to say that the procedure is usually done properly. IMO, tank-transfer is the best way for most people to treat ich.

Question on that: If ich is under the skin and not on the surface, how would the tank transfer mthod work? If you transfer them, they are still on the fish.

 

[MrTuskfish]

One of the stickies on the ich life-cycle should explain this better that I can. But basically ich trophonts (the stage when ich is feeding on the fish) only lasts 3-7 days. Then they fall to the substrate/bottom and produce hundreds of new free-swimming ich children. This period can last 3-28 days or so. Ich cannot be killed by any method that doesn't also kill the fish during this stage. During TT, you are dumping the water every three days, eliminating the next generation of free-swimmers. Do this a few times, and you eliminate ich in all of its forms. The initial post in this excellent sticky from Snorvich gives a much better explanation than I can. TT is really a fool-proof, easy method to eliminate ich IMO & IME. (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1992196)