Hyposalinity and live rock

[jjencek]

I got a new pair of clownfish that need to go through QT.

I seeded my QT with a live rock from my DT to help with ammonia. It worked well keeping it down while observing the new fish.

I am now starting a hyposalinity (11-12 ppt / 1.008-1.009) for 10 days that will be followed by copper for 28 days.

I plan not to use the live rock while treating with copper, but can I keep it in the hypo phase or will most of it die and add to the water problems?

 

[ThRoewer]

There are no issues using rock during hyposalinity as long as they do not contain any organisms that might die-off due to the low salinity and by that cause ammonia spikes. So the use of actual (wild-collected) liverock may not be a good idea unless it had been previously sterilized and cleaned of all organic residues.
I would suggest to rather use something like new Real Reef Rock (wet but not settled with a lot of higher organisms or algae) or ceramics. Clean coral gravel might also be good to stabilize the pH.

Using limestone rock with copper isn't the best idea either as calcium binds copper and therefore depletes it from the water column where you need it for an effective treatment. Unglazed ceramics such as flowerpots, tiles, or bricks might be better to give fish hiding places and settling grounds for bacteria.

 

[jjencek]

This rock is not wild. It has been in by DT sump over 12 months. I do expect there might be critters that could not do well in the hyposalínity. I will keep an eye on it and report back after the hypo is over.

I plan to use bio balls cycled in my DT sump for 2-3 weeks once I start copper treatment. I just did not have them ready for the hypo.

 

[ThRoewer]

BTW, if you plan on treating with copper, why do hyposalinity treatment at all?

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[jjencek]

BTW, if you plan on treating with copper, why do hyposalinity treatment at all?

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I read about copper resistant fluke, which is killed by hypo. So doing it just to make sure.

 

[HumbleFish]

I read about copper resistant fluke, which is killed by hypo. So doing it just to make sure.

Copper does not treat flukes. Praziquantel and Fenbendazole do.

 

[jjencek]

Copper does not treat flukes. Praziquantel and Fenbendazole do.

Of course you are right. I meant to say praziquantel resistant fluke.

 

[HumbleFish]

Of course you are right. I meant to say praziquantel resistant fluke.

Those are rare. However, a week in hypo has never failed me whenever I do encounter flukes that prazi failed to eradicate (for whatever reason).

 

[jjencek]

As promised, here is my update about my experience with live rock in hypo ...

The live rock did well at normal salinity (1.025) for 6 days with no trace of ammonia. As soon as I lowered the salinity to 1.008 the ammonia started to rise reaching 0.2 ppm total ammonia within 3 days..

So based on my experience, I would not recommend using a live rock during hypo. It does not seem to help and it probably makes it worse.

Your experience might differ.

 

[ThRoewer]

Here is how it works: get some dry rock (dead and dried live rock, real reef or the like) and place it in a bin outside. Fill the bin with tap water or RO reject water and add some saltwater from a water change. It just needs to be brackish but there isn't a need to get the salinity all the way up to the hyposalinity treatment range.
Make sure the bin gets a few hours of sunlight every day. In a few weeks the rocks will be covered in algae and ready for use in hyposalinity treatment tanks.
I used this method and it works well.

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[HumbleFish]

Most people drop SG quickly when performing hypo because there is an "emergency" disease they are trying to eliminate. When you do it this way, nitrifiers are going to take a hit until the surviving bacteria acclimates to it and propagates "hypo resistant" offspring. You lose a lot less nitrifying bacteria when you drop the salinity more gradually.

 

[jjencek]

I also heard, not tried it yet, that you can use bioballs and seed them. The advantage of bioballs over rock is that they don't absorb medication. So you can use them for other methods.

 

[ThRoewer]

Most people drop SG quickly when performing hypo because there is an "emergency" disease they are trying to eliminate. When you do it this way, nitrifiers are going to take a hit until the surviving bacteria acclimates to it and propagates "hypo resistant" offspring. You lose a lot less nitrifying bacteria when you drop the salinity more gradually.

I learned the hard way that the "emergency fast drop" in a tank with rocks and sand that are well settled with bacteria and other microorganisms is a sure way to kill your fish by ammonia poisoning.
Better is to transfer all the sick fish to a dedicated hospital tank and do plenty of water changes to keep ammonia due to fish excrement from building up.

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