Hyposalinity, followed by Tank Transfer Method

[Streetmagus]

Is following 4 weeks of hyposalinity with the tank transfer method too stressful for the fish? I was thinking after hypo, to raise SG slowly, I would do that during the TTM. After that, there would be about 2 weeks of just observing the fish before putting them back in the DT.

Has anyone done this?

 

[Mrscribbled]

Why not just do the TT now and be done? For obvious reasons if your not confident with the hypo and want to do another treatment afterwards, I'd just go with the later one.

 

[smb2415]

I am a newbie but have been doing a 5 min hypo before going in the QT and then when exiting the QT before going to the DT. Each use of hypo is with new water and clean bucket.

For QT I am using (2) rounds of prazi during the 6wk QT period. I have not yet used copper of other meds but figure I would does as needed (not in combination).

I'm too new to say this is a correct way however I figure its a safe way from what I have read based upon the advice from other experienced reefers.

not

 

[Streetmagus]

Why not just do the TT now and be done? For obvious reasons if your not confident with the hypo and want to do another treatment afterwards, I'd just go with the later one.

I thought about it, but figured since I'm waiting 8-10 weeks for DT to stay fallow, I might as well go with hypo to kill off as many parasites as possible. The TTM would then get rid of the remaining, if any somehow survives hypo (in case of error or freak mutation). I'm just guessing, the two together would definitely rid the fish of ich? If one fails, the other one save the day, so to speak.

As for why didn't I go with TTM first? Well, the fish were really stressed out being in the new environment, not eating for a couple of days, I was afraid if I moved them again in 3 days, they would never eat and their health would decline. Only one fish showed ich (a tang, who was still eating like a pig). After the move, she didn't eat for 3 days...figured during hypo she would get used to the bare tank environment and changing her to an identical tank wouldn't freak her out as much when I follow up with TTM.

 

[Rea17]

Both of the treatment methods you are talking about are specifically designed to treat marine ich, but there is a world of other parasites to worry about on a new fish. Complicate your life less and go with TTM for ich treatment - if you follow the time line it is fool proof. Sterilize everything between transfers, and move as little water as possible with the fish. I really dislike hypo for use on new fish, as it ONLY treats marine ich (and even then it is questionable), and it puts you in a position where you can't safely medicate for other conditions should something come up. It takes time to bring the salinity up to a level where it is possible to start other treatments, and in that amount of time it can be too late for the fish.

 

[Streetmagus]

Ahh, they're not really "new" fish, a few months only. Tang showed signs of ich and the cleaner shrimps were constantly picking at him after that. Anyways, I might just have to go with the TTM only since I'm starting to see how difficult maintaining a constant 1.009 and doing water changes...

Would the only reason for a failure via TTM be not sterilizing the tank well enough (ie something wasn't thoroughly dried), or are there freak ichs who might stay on the fish for several weeks? I read somewhere that may be possible, others saying it's a myth etc. Anyone failed TTM for removing ich?

 

[snorvich]

Both of the treatment methods you are talking about are specifically designed to treat marine ich, but there is a world of other parasites to worry about on a new fish. Complicate your life less and go with TTM for ich treatment - if you follow the time line it is fool proof. Sterilize everything between transfers, and move as little water as possible with the fish. I really dislike hypo for use on new fish, as it ONLY treats marine ich (and even then it is questionable), and it puts you in a position where you can't safely medicate for other conditions should something come up. It takes time to bring the salinity up to a level where it is possible to start other treatments, and in that amount of time it can be too late for the fish.

I agree. Excellent post.

 

[snorvich]

Ahh, they're not really "new" fish, a few months only. Tang showed signs of ich and the cleaner shrimps were constantly picking at him after that. Anyways, I might just have to go with the TTM only since I'm starting to see how difficult maintaining a constant 1.009 and doing water changes...

Would the only reason for a failure via TTM be not sterilizing the tank well enough (ie something wasn't thoroughly dried), or are there freak ichs who might stay on the fish for several weeks? I read somewhere that may be possible, others saying it's a myth etc. Anyone failed TTM for removing ich?

No, tank transfer will work for ich (cryptocaryon irritans) without worrying about "freak ich". Simply do not share water between tanks or transfers.

 

[NTP66]

If you stick with the TTM route, you could always get a round or two in of Prazi while still in QT, and use the rest of the time to observe. That's basically the route that I took with all of my fish (following advice from many others), and it has worked out well.

 

[snorvich]

If you stick with the TTM route, you could always get a round or two in of Prazi while still in QT, and use the rest of the time to observe. That's basically the route that I took with all of my fish (following advice from many others), and it has worked out well.

which is what I do as well. Works fine.

 

[Spar]

If you stick with the TTM route, you could always get a round or two in of Prazi while still in QT, and use the rest of the time to observe. That's basically the route that I took with all of my fish (following advice from many others), and it has worked out well.

+2. First 2 rounds I do with just TT; last 2 rounds I do Prazi in between. That way the last 2 weeks are just with un-med'ed water for observation.

 

[Streetmagus]

Great, guys. Will check the LFS for PraziPro (I think that's what it's called). Now I have a better game plan. Fish has been in hypo for almost a week now, all eating healthy.. water params are good other than PH being on the low side.

Is using tapwater a bad idea for the duration of the TTM? I would of course treat the water with Prime before adding fish. I don't have a RO/DI unit and I think dumping close to 80 gallons of water every 3 days is quite a bit lol I'm not concerned with the cost of salt, but more of hauling 15 5gallon jugs back and forth... I might consolidate the fish into the fewer tanks. They're all small less than 2 inches.

 

[Streetmagus]

Okay, an update to this old thread I started.

I decided to do hyposalinity, with TTM. I used tap water, treated with dechlorinator. So, the display tank was fallow for about 10 weeks. The last week of treatment I slowly raised the salinity, still practicing TTM. Yes, I used TTM for the whole duration of the 10 weeks. It was the best way for me to combat water quality. Changing the water out every other day, the water parameters were nearly identical so that the fish weren't stressed with the 100% water changes. It seemed they were used to the netting, it never was an issue.

It's now been at least 4 weeks since I put the fish back into the display tank. No signs of ich, so far *knock on wood*.

All the fish (2 clowns, blue tang, cardinalfish) survived, except for the flame angel. I have no idea what caused the flame angel to die. About 1.5 months in, he started to swim funny (head down, sort of like a bladder issue or something?) and wouldn't eat. A few days later, he would be back to normal and eating. Then again, one day he stopped eating and never gained his appetite, until he finally died.

The TTM didn't take a toll on the fish, maybe I'm fortunate? All the fish ate like pigs. I always fed them right before transferring them, since they wouldn't be stressed and the un-eaten food would be immediately poured out when I changed the water. The method I went with was very time consuming, having to change out 3 bins of 15gallons every 3 days and topping off with jugs of tapwater to keep salinity low. I was hard the first month, but after that, it became routine.

 

[MrTuskfish]

Both of the treatment methods you are talking about are specifically designed to treat marine ich, but there is a world of other parasites to worry about on a new fish. Complicate your life less and go with TTM for ich treatment - if you follow the time line it is fool proof. Sterilize everything between transfers, and move as little water as possible with the fish. I really dislike hypo for use on new fish, as it ONLY treats marine ich (and even then it is questionable), and it puts you in a position where you can't safely medicate for other conditions should something come up. It takes time to bring the salinity up to a level where it is possible to start other treatments, and in that amount of time it can be too late for the fish.

Great advice. FWIW: I know hypo works well for some folks, but (IMO & IME) I don't even consider it any more. Too complicated, demands precision often beyond the range of many of us (especially newbies), and I think strains of ich have become immune to hypo at any SG we can safely use.