hypo salinity help

[pufferpoison]

ok after loosing all my clowns to brook, i've started a QT tank. it's a 10G with a florescent strip light and has a powerhead (MJ 600) and an AquaClear 50 for filtration, PVC pipe (many pieces) at the bottom for plenty of cover with all sorts of sizes and shapes. I started the salinity at 1.023 SG and 12 hours later moved to 1.020, 12 hours later moved to 1.017, 12 hours later moved to 1.014, 16 hours later moved to 1.012, 12 hours later moved to 1.010 and have now made the move to 1.009SG. the problem was this was a fast botched job that i started and had ammonia for the first day. I did 2 30% water changes with RO/DI per day with the proper amount of Salt to keep the ammonia down. ok got down to 1.010 and guess what? i have a Brackish tank set up for over 6 months and had an AC sponge sitting in the filter just in case, dropped the sponge in the AC QT tank's Aqua clear filter and now 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite but i have 4 fish in there, a purple firefish, a red firefish, a 6 line wrasse and a royal gramma. the wrasse and red firefish act normal, the other two seem to stay at the bottom and hardly ever move at all. I stuck my hand in there and even touched the purple firefish and he barely moved. Should i leave them in there knowing there not doing very well or should i move say the purple firefish into my 5.5G nano that's cycled with LR and LS and just has been sitting with a few snails in it? The 6 line wrasse had ich the day after i added it to the QT. ANy suggestions? they are hanging on, just not looking good.

 

[rm41400]

did you test PH and buffer as needed? If not use baking soda and a ph test kit to get it up to 8.1-8.3.

Otherwise, I would just get a bigger qt a 29 gal is only about $50.00 and all your other stuff would work good on it.

 

[kevin2000]

My 02

Crowded QT tanks will often result in extra water changes .. with or without a mature bio filter. 4 small fish in a 10 gallon tank is probably crowded but its done all the time .. depends on the fish and how aggressive they are .. the six line and probably the gamma can get kinda testy in any tank.

Since your using hypo I would not use your 5 gallon tank .. hypo will kill off the LR and perhaps much of the infauna in your live sand. You can always go down to Petco/Petsmart and get a ten gallon tank for about $10.

Nothing wrong with frequent large water changes in a QT .. just make sure you prepare your replacement water well in advance so its properly aged (allows the PH to stabilize) has the correct temp etc.

If you setup a second QT placing a piece of the mature bio filter media in the filter of the second tank will help mitigate water quality issues. Another method that will improve water quality is to frequently syphon out any uneaten food or fish debris from your bare bottom QT's - old fashion turkey baster works well.