Ich, hypo in DT?

[DrBoxedWine]

I had a look at my tank before i left for work this morning, and I noticed that my Kole Tang looked like he was covered in grains of sugar and was just sitting on the bottom of the tank. I called my wife to have her give me an update, and she's the foxface doesn't look good either. I'm taking a half day at work, and will be home shortly to start treatment. I actually noticed a few little white specs on the foxface a few nights ago, but i figured i had a little time before a full on outbreak happened.

Anyway, my DT was set up in august, i only have 6 corals, and they're all still frags on the the little frag discs. What i'm wondering, is, could i take all the corals, cleaner shrimp, and snails, put them in my 20g QT and move one of my hydras over to that tank and run the DT at HYPO for the recommended time? I think i could get 80-90% of the snails over to the QT without a problem. This way i wouldn't have to break down all the rocks to get all the fish out and worry about ammonia problems in the QT. I could also use my existing QT, and not have to buy another.

I do have a bag of biorings in the DT sump that are cycled and ready to be put into my QT AC70 filter. It's a heavily stocked 75g tank tho, so i'd have to buy a used 55g if i move all the fish. No way the little bag of bio rings is going to handle the bioload of 8 fish tho.

Also, i'll attach a pic in the next post, but the foxface looks like has little black "bubbles" on him as well. This is a pic from my wife, i'll be able to get a better in an hour or so, but i figured i'd post it anyway.

The Kole tang is in bad shape. I'm very worried he isn't going to make it through the night. I'm thinking a 3-5 min FW dip is my best option just to get him through the day, unless someone can tell me differently.

My tank info:

New, just set it up in august. QTed all fish for 3-4 weeks, but apparently a sick fish slipped through.

1.025 salinity
Haven't tested for ammonia lately, but i'm sure it's 0, it's been very stable for months now.
0 nitrates
last fish was added a couple weeks ago
My plan is to use RODI water for calibrating the refractometer

Thanks in advance!

 

[tassod]

Personally, i would not bother with Hypo, there are Ich strains that can survive it and it is very difficult to execute properly. Sorry to say this but your best option is to take out all the fish and treat them and leave your DT fallow for 72 days.

 

[DrBoxedWine]

Thanks for the input. Given my current situation, i'm pretty much set on going Hypo in the DT. I'm leaving town in a couple weeks, and i'm nervous about my roommate even feeding the fish, let alone dealing with a tank under quarantine. I'm actually leaving town twice over what will be this treatment. I have a tunze ATO on the DT that will keep salinity exactly where i need it. I realize this isn't the ideal way to treat it, but i'm going to give it a try, if it doesn't work, well, then i'll do a 55g qt and pull them all out in a few months. Unfortunately, right now i have no perfect solution.

 

[DrBoxedWine]

I picked up some metronidazole at the fish store, would it help to dose the whole rank since I'm guessing the hardest hit fish won't eat anyway? I'll try and dose through food, but assuming that doesn't work for the tang (firefish is in hardcore hiding as well, as is the blenny), would dosing the entire water column at least help them get through the next week or so until the salinity drops significantly?

 

[Deinonych]

Metro is not an effective treatment for Cryptocaryon, and will severely impact your biofilter if dosed directly.

 

[DrBoxedWine]

Metro is not an effective treatment for Cryptocaryon, and will severely impact your biofilter if dosed directly.

Hypo is the plan, but it sounds like the effects of that won't be felt for a week or 2. I'm just thinking of what to do to get the ones hit the hardest through till the hypo starts to help.

 

[Deinonych]

The only "quick" remedy requires removal of the fish and either medicating with copper or running them through the tank transfer method of treatment.

 

[snorvich]

The only "quick" remedy requires removal of the fish and either medicating with copper or running them through the tank transfer method of treatment.

This.

 

[DrBoxedWine]

Thanks everyone, the tang was too far gone and didn't make it through the night.

I started lowering the salinity last night and will continue to do so. Some places say do it over 10 days or so, and I've read a post on here by sk8er saying 48 hours. I plan to research it more, but if you have thoughts on this Snorvich, i'd certainly be interested.

 

[snorvich]

Thanks everyone, the tang was too far gone and didn't make it through the night.

I started lowering the salinity last night and will continue to do so. Some places say do it over 10 days or so, and I've read a post on here by sk8er saying 48 hours. I plan to research it more, but if you have thoughts on this Snorvich, i'd certainly be interested.

48 hours is good. Be absolutely sure you are using a calibrated refractometer and that you keep SG between 1.008/1.009 or there will be no value to doing this at all.

 

[DrBoxedWine]

48 hours is good. Be absolutely sure you are using a calibrated refractometer and that you keep SG between 1.008/1.009 or there will be no value to doing this at all.

Rodi water doesn't cut it? Should I get a calibration fluid this evening?

Also, dropping it like that over 48 hours is going to be tough due to my work schedule, does it have to be that fast? Or if it took me till Sunday, would that be ok?

 

[snorvich]

Rodi water doesn't cut it? Should I get a calibration fluid this evening?

Also, dropping it like that over 48 hours is going to be tough due to my work schedule, does it have to be that fast? Or if it took me till Sunday, would that be ok?

For most refractometers, calibration fluid is preferred. Dropping slower is fine, but you must keep it in range without variance for 30 days minimum once you reach the 1.008/1.009 target.

Note bene: this is the least reliable method of treating ich.

 

[DrBoxedWine]

For most refractometers, calibration fluid is preferred. Dropping slower is fine, but you must keep it in range without variance for 30 days minimum once you reach the 1.008/1.009 target.

Note bene: this is the least reliable method of treating ich.

Interesting about this being the least reliable. My plan was to do a full 12 weeks, would that increase the odds?

 

[snorvich]

Interesting about this being the least reliable. My plan was to do a full 12 weeks, would that increase the odds?

Only if you keep SG at the target level without variance. Even then, you would need to assume that you did not have a strain of cryptocaryon irritans that was hyposaline resistant. Many people do not execute hypo properly and regret it later. See this post above.

 

[DrBoxedWine]

Thanks Steve. I have a Tunze ato hooked up to the tank, so consistency isn't something I'm overly concerned about. Any idea what the odds are, statisticly speaking, of having a strain like that? Also, should I got with sand in the qt for my snails? Or will they be alright with bare bottom?

 

[SPS_Addiction]

If you are set on hypo, then just got to do it right. need a good ATO, salinity checker that's properly calibrated. I actually like the idea of DT hypo as you can just keep adding fish until you are satisfied, keep them in hypo for at least 4-6 weeks, then go reef after salinity back up. It's easier to bayer dip the corals and keep them in someone else's tank until your tank is ready.
I've had resistant ich that went away after I lowered to 1.008, sometimes a little lower. have melafix handy because with low salinity, fishes are more prone to infections and fin rot.

 

[DrBoxedWine]

Thanks! Yeah I have a Tunze osmolator watching water levels on my 30g sump, for a 75g tank. It adds like 1/2 cup at a time every hour or so. Salinity will be very consistent.

 

[oh207]

I had an ICH outbreak less than a year of setting up my tank, and I spend a lot of time thinking about doing Hypo in my DT. I ended up not doing it because I had too many corals.
Just one thing to look-out for, If you don't get all the inverts out, then the hypo will kill them off and lead to ammonia spike in the DT. The fact that you plan to get to 1.008 over a few days helps but there will still be die-off in the tank.

 

[DrBoxedWine]

Steve, I'm wondering if Rodi water is best to use for refractometer calibration since the target salinity is closer to zero than 1.026. My tds meter on my Rodi unit says 000. Thoughts?

 

[snorvich]

Steve, I'm wondering if Rodi water is best to use for refractometer calibration since the target salinity is closer to zero than 1.026. My tds meter on my Rodi unit says 000. Thoughts?

Take that question to the chemistry forum.