ich! doing hyposalinity, have a ?

[dohc97]

Im about to put one of my tanks through hyposalinity because i have a fish with ich in it. I have been around for awhile, but never really did hypo. My question is the following: can i keep live rock in the tank while i do the hypo treatment? there are no inverts or corals in this setup as its a fowlr. Other than this question im pretty set on how to go about treatment, everyone wish me luck!

 

[Jerry W]

How much rock? I wouldn't do it with a large amount of rock present. Many of the organisms will die off in hyposaline conditions and cause your parameters to go south. I've left maybe 10 lbs of rock in my 120 during a course of hypo, and had no bad effects. The rest I placed in a large rubbermaid trash can with a heater and powerhead. hth

 

[jnc914]

Depends on how mature the rock is. If the rock is aged and has any type of growth, the Hypo will kill the rock and could cause an ammonia spike, then nitrate issues. However, I did hypo in a FOWLR for 8 weeks with established rock. I had no issues as I ran Ozone at an ORP of 400 and a large skimmer, did weekly water changes. This definitely off set any die off and possible ammonia spike. Ich will continue to live in your liverock even if you remove it prior to Hypo and then store it in another tanks or garbage can, etc. Without a fish host it will die off, but not likely in an 8 week period.

 

[dohc97]

jnc914 i have read a few of your threads and really respect your opinions. The live rock in this tank is a mix of 3 month old rock and rock that has been in a sump for about 6 months. There are no sponges or anything else growing that i can see, so if there is die off i would guess it would be minimal. Ill try it and keep an eye on the parameters.

 

[OceanLover2]

I added a LONG advice about ick treatment today under something like "ick in my reef." It has a TON of good info and you should seek it out. (I'm far too lazy to retype.)

You should move your rocks somewhere else will you treat for ick, IMO.