My tang has ich, are I'm treating it right?

[rdefino]

I have read a number of right ups on setting up quarantine tanks.

But I just want to be sure I'm doing this right.

My sailfin tang has ich. I just setup a 75gal as the quarantine tank.
I have a canister filter setup with micron media and charcoal. Now the media and charcoal and the water in the tank is from the display tank.
Also the tang is in the quarantine tank.

I have the temp at 80 and I'm going to start the lower the salinity level to 1.09.


Once I have the salinity level to 1.09 can I use the water from the main tank for the water changes that I'll need to do (the water reading are great in the main tank). I was thinking it would contain biological elements that the quarantine tank would need. Also, should I keep using the media from the display tank, in the quarantine tank?

thanks for any thoughts.

 

[rdefino]

Anyone?

 

[paulamrein]

Well, the problem with using display water is that though it does contain some biological elements, it also contains the parasites you are trying to kill. And, it doesn't contain enough biology to sustain or maintain a filtration. So, there are cultures you can use to give your media a boost. But, these take time to multiply, not long, but perhaps longer than it would take to sustain your water quality. Hypo salinity is very effective, but also needs to be closely monitored on a daily basis. Too much higher and it's ineffective, too low it kills the fish. So it must be measured with a refractometer or a lab-grade hydrometer. There will also be drastic swings of ph and dkh. And the temp should be what you keep it in the main display, no need to raise the temperature as it decreases oxygen availability.

 

[rdefino]

Would it be alright to use some LR that I have. It's extra that's been in a bucket and dried out. I just want to make a hiding place, there are 2 fish in the tank being quarantined. I thought of some PVC, but the tang is pretty big.

 

[rdefino]

Anyone? Thanks

 

[dones20]

if the rock is dried out i would not use it especially if the tank is young and has not colonized any bacteria it could make things worse in the sense that it could spike paramaters in the tank and creat stressful environments

 

[limitdown]

To control ammonia in a QT during hypo, you can consider using Amquel. That way, you can leave the QT barebottom without any live rock. If you want to use live rock, then expect some of the nitrifying bacteria and other critters in the LR to die off.

If you decide at some point to use copper, then DO NOT use any type of dechlorinator (such as Seachem's Prime), or any anti-ammonia agent (ie Amquel, AmGuard). Adding those will make the copper 10x stronger and it will kill your fish.

 

[taz13777]

why cant you use amquel with copper?

 

[paulamrein]

Using amquel as a dechlorinator and for fresh water is fine, but all it does is store the ammonia and nitrite and nitrate to be released again later. Same with the copper, it will hold it and when you add more, it will release it making it stronger.