Hyposalinity

[TWallace]

I've got two fish in my quarantine, both with ich, a female percula clown and a coral beauty. They've been in quarantine for about 3 days now, and I've got the salinity down to 1.009 as of last night. This morning my coral beauty was upside down resting on the gravel, but breathing normally. I went to work today thinking he was probably going to be dead when I got home. However, he acts fine this evening, swimming ok and even eating, but still covered in white spots, worse now than ever in fact.

Could his upside down sleeping behavior be related to the salinity change? I misread the instructions for starting hyposalinity and went from 1.023 to 1.009 in about 24 hours instead of 48 hours.

I'm really hoping he pulls through, he's a beautiful coral beauty. This pic was taken two days ago, he's got much more white spots now than in this pic.

The clownfish also has more white spots than ever now, but doesn't seem to show any signs of being irritated by it and still eats great.

 

[White Tiger]

Making such a difference in the salinity in 24 hrs will most likely not cause this type of reaction for a fish. Instead, (This may be possible) the ick is so serious that it is causing the fish to lie on its side.

I don't recomend this if ick on your two fish is not serious. However, if you fish's condition gets worse in 1 week, use copper-based medicine with the hyposalinity, just make sure you check your water quality once everyday.

 

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

that should actually go even longer than 48hrs....like 72-9g hours

actually if you go the copper route...you should dose with your salinity at say 1.021-1.022 or so(i don't think hypo salinity levels are needed)

so keep a close eye and make sure your amm. doesn't elevate(or nitrates).....if he gets worse, trying say, Cupramine might be a good idea(SeaChem)

just my thoughts....hopefully a more experienced disease expert will chime in.

 

[Psionicdragon]

copper based medicine and hyposalinity is a bad idea.

It can become very toxic under the condition.

 

[White Tiger]

I KNOW THAT COPPER AND HYPOSALINITY COMBINED IS UNSAFE. THAT IS WHY I SAID "I don't recomend this unless..." AND SAID "...make sure you check your water quality once everyday."

 

[TerryB]

Check your pH daily. The pH tends to drop in hypo and that will cause more of a problem than the salinity just being low. Add a buffer as needed. It takes a week or so for any treatment to start to work, including copper. I would definately not switch to copper. Small angels are very sensitive to copper and you haven't given hypo time enough to work yet. Do not combine hypo and copper.

Terry B

 

[TWallace]

I don't want to use copper in the tank, my preference is to stick with just hypo. I have a small amount of substrate and rock from my main tank in this system and I've heard they can absorb copper from the water, making it hard to maintain the required dosage in the water. Also I was prepared for the pH to drop and have been using a pH buffer in my water to prevent this. So far it's holding steady at 8.3. I've also been paying close attention to ammonia and nitrite, even though I took a sponge from my main tank to jump start the biological filtration in this quarantine tank. So far no ammonia/nitrite has been detected, but I'll still test everyday.

Thanks for the advice all.

 

[TerryB]

Are you using a calibrated refractometer to measure the salinity? Check the salinity not the specific gravity and then keep the salinity in the 11-14ppt range. I prefer 14ppt because it is easier to maintain the water quality. Do NOT use a plastic swing arm type hydrometer.

Terry B

 

[Psionicdragon]

If you don't recommend it..shouldn't suggest it knowing that it is dangerous. You have been giving some wrong advice lately dude even though your heart / intention is in the right place.

 

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

Psionicdragon.................where's all this bad advice he's giving?

 

[TWallace]

I'm using a Marine Depot refractometer, not a swing arm hydrometer. I do have a hydrometer but I don't think it even measures below 1.012 anyway. What's the difference between checking salinity and specific gravity? My refractometer shows SG on the left and salinity on the right. I'm a little unimpressed with the refractometer I got. The measuring tool is blue on top and white on bottom, and you're supposed to line up the line where the blue changes to white with your salinity reading. However, this line isn't a very sharp division, it's somewhat blurred. I can adjust the focus in the device, that only affects the focus on the numbers and markings, not the dividing line.

The coral beauty looked much better this morning, he swam around normally, showed much less white spots, ate some food and appears to be breathing normally as well. The percula clown however did not come out of the rocks, but I could see her moving around inside them, she's not laying down. I couldn't see how her breathing was or if the white spots were reduced. I didn't want to scare her out of her rocks to see her, I figure less stress is best.

 

[kraze3]

I am just finishing a hypo treatment and i suggest you drop down to 12 ppt to compensate for water evaporation. If you do get any evap your salinity will go up to 13 or 14 if its alot this way you will not go above 14. I actually did my treatment for 8 weeks at 11 ppt.

http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/hyposalinity.html

 

[TWallace]

Well my coral beauty is looking like he's recovering from the ich. Still has some white spots, but he's behaving normal now, eating well, breathing at a normal rate. My percula clown however is taking a turn for the worse. Much more white spots, not eating and breathing a little quicker than normal. She also has something coming out of her ...there's no polite way to say this, butt. I assumed it was just poop at first, but it's semi transparent and getting quite long. Looks like it may be a parasitic worm of some sort now. I tried getting good pics, but they didn't come out very well.

I'm keeping the SG at 1.009 and has been that way for four days now. I was expecting the hypo to start kicking the ich's *** by now. How long does it normally take before the white spots are gone?

 

[White Tiger]

It usually takes 1-2 weeks for the spots to disappear.

 

[BTTRFLYGRL]

White stringy poop is a sign of internal parasites. Metronidozole or Praziquantel in food will help

I see this is a wild caught Clown? Wild caught Clowns are known to carry several internal and external parasites..I wonder if this Clown also has Brooklynella. Check out these pictures

http://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/showthread.php?t=127010


If it does have Brook, he will need a series of formalin dips

 

[TWallace]

Is formalin commonly available at LFS? I'd rather not wait several days for shipping if that's what she needs.

 

[baobao]

If the problem is marine ich, i think formalin will only be marginally effective.

 

[BTTRFLYGRL]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7075213#post7075213 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TWallace
Is formalin commonly available at LFS? I'd rather not wait several days for shipping if that's what she needs.

Does the Clowns condition appear similiar to the photo's?



Some stores carry Formalin..I have one store here where I can get Formalin and its 1/2 hour away You can check, but if you cant find it try liveaquaria.com..They can send it next day, but the shipping will end up more than the formalin itself

 

[BTTRFLYGRL]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7081420#post7081420 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by baobao
If the problem is marine ich, i think formalin will only be marginally effective.

He's treating the ich with Hyposalinity..but hypo won't help if its also infested with Brook

 

[EMBRYOGUY]

BTTRYFLYGRL

"Metronidozole or Praziquantel in food will help"

what product do you use to soak the food with those meds?