Mortality Rate of Hyposalinity

[lessthanlights]

I've lost four fish in my QT tanks from hyposalinity, at least that is my best guess. I've spent the last two weeks gradually lowering the salinity and I'm at about 1.012 right now. I'm afraid to go an lower, my causalities include three clowns and a goby and I don't want to lose my last clown and coral beauty. This is very frustrating. I've never had ich and then I foolishly try and rescue some fish but didn't QT them and now I'm going to loose all my fish.


What is the mortality rate of hyposalinity? Or should I be looking to another cause?

 

[drej424]

I've had the same issue. My 12 line wrasse didn't tolerate the hypo. I raised the salinity to 1.014. He's still pretty stressed. No signs of ich or parasites, his eyes are clear, but he just lies around the tank, hiding all day. I ran a diatom filter and installed a UV to deal with the ich. It's so frustrating. I did the same thing as you and added fish without QT and wound up with a bad ich situation. I lost a lot of fish, too.

Good luck with yours.

 

[TerryB]

The problem the fish may be having probably stems from a low pH rather than the low salinity. The pH tends to drop in diluted saltwater so it should be checked and buffered as needed (daily) when using hyposalinity. Fish usually thrive rather than tolerate hyposalinity so please check the pH.

You should also know that a Specific Gravity of 1.012 is NOT low enough to treat with hyposalinity. Plastic swing-arm type hydrometers are usually inaccurate. It is much better to use a refractometer and measure the salinity rather than the Specific Gravity. I suggest a salinity of 14ppt. Do you understand the difference?

Terry B

 

[lessthanlights]

Yeah- I was bringing it down very slowy. I'm at 1.008 now, from what I understand that should do it. And I am am using a refracto. I'll check the ph and go from there.

Thanks

 

[drej424]

I use a refractometer also. I know that 1.012 is not low enough to treat with hypo, but the pH was only slightly low (8.0) and I didn't know what else to do. I tried an air pump, but that didn't help.

I don't understand the difference between specific gravity measurements and salinity. My refracto gives both measurements side by side.

Thanks

Denise

 

[SeaView]

I some some fish in Hypo now as well. 1.009. Two tangs. They are eating nori like crazy and are nice and plump. But there colors looks faded and dull. Didn't think about lower PH till I read this thread. Just checked and it was at 7.8. I am slowly bringing it up now. I hope this helps them.

 

[Conky]

There's been an ongoing discussion on AquaticInfo of late, discussion the problems with using hyposalinity. Seems that Uronema thrives at low salinities and tends to sweep in on already stressed fishes. A lot of people seem to be using hypersalinity to battle Uronema....this is contrary to the normal routine to battle Cryptocaryon and Amyloodinium. I doubt that low pH/hyposalinity actually is that stressful to fish (e.g. easier osmoregulation), but that it open them up to attack from parasites we aren't necessarily expecting. I can post the conversation if anyone is interested.

 

[arizona tech]

i have lost 2 flame angels to hypo, never again i cuperamine everything, i added ph buffer to the water, everything the fish would stop eating when i went into hypo mode

 

[MrsPuffs]

I have been doing the hypo thing with my two wrasses that have been sick. When I went back to the pet store to get some copper safe for my QT, they showed me some stuff called burnt coral. Its supose to raise PH slowly and keep it at a safe level. They told me to check my ph while I did the hypo and add a small peice of dead burnt coral one at a time, waiting an hour after each peice to check the ph again and adjust the peices of coral as needed. It has been working great so far. At the same time it gives the fishies a place to hide and feel safe. The burnt coral was very cheep and can be thrown out when finished with the QT or they can be washed off and saved for the next fish that may get sick. (I would just throw them out and get new) I don't know how fool proof this works, I just know its working for me. Good luck!

 

[TerryB]

I agree that hyposalinity is not a treatment for Uronema. It is effective against Cryptocaryon and can help against Amyloodinium. However, it is not a cure for Amyloodinium.

There are a couple of problems that you must be aware of when using hyposalinity. First, the salinity must be measured accurately. If the salinity is too high then treatment will not work. If the salinity is too low it may be harmful to the fish. This means that a refractometer should be used. Many hydrometers are too inaccurate, especially plastic swing-arm types. Second, the pH can drop quickly and must be monitored on a daily basis. Any rapid change in pH is highly stressful to the fish. It is common for the pH to fall to 7.4 which is far too low for reef fish.

Most of the time that people have a problem using hypo it is because they are not using the correct salinity and/or not using an accurate tool to measure it. People also get confused about the difference between salinity and Specific Gravity. Specific Gravity is a much less accurate way of measuring the amount of salts in the water. Specifc Gravity readings are effected by water temperature and salinity is not. The higher the water temp the lower the Specific Gravity reading will be. If the water temperature is too high then you may feel that the Specific Gravity is low enough when in fact it is not. A good salinity for hypo is 14ppt.

The other common problem is not monitoring the pH or even being aware that the pH tends to drop in diluted saltwater. Eliminate these two problems and the chances are that you will be happy with the results. The problems using hypo usually stem from incorrectly administrating the treatment rather than the treatment itself.

TerryB

 

[SeaView]

Well my fish took a major turn for the worse and are now looking very bad. On, Closer inspection I believe they now have Uronema. I couldn't figure out why they seem to get better the first week in Hypo and then started to fade. I hope I am not to late to treat the Uronema. I believe fomalin dips are the treament but am affraid the fish will be too stresssed to recover.

 

[TerryB]

Seaview,

What are the symptoms? Do you see raised scales with red underneath?

TerryB

 

[SeaView]

Kole tang and scopas.
Both fish are very timid so they don't sit still very long. Colors are faded on both tangs. Still seeing white spots on both. The Kole tang's has what looks like reddish blotches/patches on his face and back. The patches are not specks but large areas. Not sure if this is raised scales.

 

[SeaView]

Lost the scopas. I had had him for 8yrs. This happened very fast and I still don't know the cause. Was in hypo for a week and looking better - Eating well, few to no white spots.

Then colors faded and eyes were cloudy. Params were good except for the PH.

Kole is still hanging in there but is eating less. I am thinking I should have just left them in the display tank where even though they had some spots they seemed very healthy.

 

[SeaView]

Kole tang making a recovery. I gave him a few formalin baths. His color is back, no more blotches or spots and eating nori like mad. Another week in hypo then I will start raaising the salinty

 

[lessthanlights]

my coral beauty started floating sideways, fins turned white and were starting to rot away, the scales also seemed enlarged or extra scaly (if that makes sense). i ended up putting her down. if there is a next time i'm going to try and stablize the ph more.

 

[SeaView]

I was planning to return my Kole tang to the display tank tomorrow. He had been looking very healthy and active with great color and no spots. I was bringing up the salinity very slowly over about 7 days by doing partial water changes. Yesterday the salinity was up to 1.020. I notice the Kole seemed a little faded and wasn't eating as much. I was going to do another formalin dip before returning to the display just to be sure. This morning he was dead. I have no idea why. I am bummed and now really wish I had just let both my fish stay in the display tank and use good nutrition and husbandry to help them fight the ich. In the end I lost them both anyway.

I can see the point of QTing new arrival but removing established fish from a healthy invironment to treat in a more stressful makes it that much harder to recover.