jon99
New member
Short version:
Can I treat bacterial infection (such as with Maracyn) while the fish are in hypo (1.009) being treated for ich? Or do I need to only do one or the other to avoid too much stress and unwanted effects medications can possibly have at a reduced salinity level? If only one, which first? I started lowering salinity last night (from 1.026), currently at 1.020 to treat for ich. Fish are starting to show signs of bacterial infection (one has lightly clouded eyes, the other is sloughing off slime coat). I just got a seachem "ammonia alert badge". It reads "alert 0.05ppm". I will be doing a water change as soon as it's mixed. I'll try to attach photos of fish soon.
Long version:
I have a purple tang and blue hippo that I'm treating for ich in hyposalinity. I've had both for about 3 years now (in a 210 dt). They were treated with hypo successfully when I first brought them home 3 years ago and have been ich free for about 3 years until about 2 weeks ago. I bought an anemone from an online vendor about 3-4 weeks ago which I drip acclimated and put in the dt. About 1-1.5 weeks later, over night the tangs broke out in ich. I set up a 55 gallon hospital tank and about a week later after first noticing the ich I drained the dt, caught the fish, and got them in the hospital tank. The ich seemed to drop off the fish in the next 24 hours, even though the water in the hospital tank was straight from the dt and I had not started hypo yet. Unfortunately I've been out of town a lot this past month and it took me about another week before I could find 48hours to devote to lowering the salinity in the hospital tank. That was last night and the fish had been in the hospital tank for 2 weeks at this point. The ich has reappeared, but the fish were acting normal and eating, although the were scratching and looked obviously uncomfortable. I managed to get the hypo to 1.020 in the last 24 hours, but when I got home today from work the tangs looked worse then ever. The purple has spots of slime that are loose and sloughing off and a small red sore on one of the fins, I believe this may be a secondary bacterial infection from the ich. The blue hippo tang has clouded eyes and similar slime coat splotches. Both fish are still eating, although less vigorously, and scratching a lot. They roll over on their side in front of each other as if asking the other to pick the parasites off. They're obviously very uncomfortable. I got a seachem ammonia alert badge and it's currently reading "alert 0.05ppm ammonia" This is the first level after the normal 0 ammonia reading. I have mixed up a batch of fresh sea water, but unfortunately I mixed it to 1.009 since that was what the hospital tank was going to be. What should I do now? Obviously a water change. But do I continue dropping salinity to 1.009 to get rid of the ich? Can I use maracyn or similar medication to treat the bacterial infection while salinity is at 1.009? Or do I need to raise the salinity back up and treat with maracyn first?
Can I treat bacterial infection (such as with Maracyn) while the fish are in hypo (1.009) being treated for ich? Or do I need to only do one or the other to avoid too much stress and unwanted effects medications can possibly have at a reduced salinity level? If only one, which first? I started lowering salinity last night (from 1.026), currently at 1.020 to treat for ich. Fish are starting to show signs of bacterial infection (one has lightly clouded eyes, the other is sloughing off slime coat). I just got a seachem "ammonia alert badge". It reads "alert 0.05ppm". I will be doing a water change as soon as it's mixed. I'll try to attach photos of fish soon.
Long version:
I have a purple tang and blue hippo that I'm treating for ich in hyposalinity. I've had both for about 3 years now (in a 210 dt). They were treated with hypo successfully when I first brought them home 3 years ago and have been ich free for about 3 years until about 2 weeks ago. I bought an anemone from an online vendor about 3-4 weeks ago which I drip acclimated and put in the dt. About 1-1.5 weeks later, over night the tangs broke out in ich. I set up a 55 gallon hospital tank and about a week later after first noticing the ich I drained the dt, caught the fish, and got them in the hospital tank. The ich seemed to drop off the fish in the next 24 hours, even though the water in the hospital tank was straight from the dt and I had not started hypo yet. Unfortunately I've been out of town a lot this past month and it took me about another week before I could find 48hours to devote to lowering the salinity in the hospital tank. That was last night and the fish had been in the hospital tank for 2 weeks at this point. The ich has reappeared, but the fish were acting normal and eating, although the were scratching and looked obviously uncomfortable. I managed to get the hypo to 1.020 in the last 24 hours, but when I got home today from work the tangs looked worse then ever. The purple has spots of slime that are loose and sloughing off and a small red sore on one of the fins, I believe this may be a secondary bacterial infection from the ich. The blue hippo tang has clouded eyes and similar slime coat splotches. Both fish are still eating, although less vigorously, and scratching a lot. They roll over on their side in front of each other as if asking the other to pick the parasites off. They're obviously very uncomfortable. I got a seachem ammonia alert badge and it's currently reading "alert 0.05ppm ammonia" This is the first level after the normal 0 ammonia reading. I have mixed up a batch of fresh sea water, but unfortunately I mixed it to 1.009 since that was what the hospital tank was going to be. What should I do now? Obviously a water change. But do I continue dropping salinity to 1.009 to get rid of the ich? Can I use maracyn or similar medication to treat the bacterial infection while salinity is at 1.009? Or do I need to raise the salinity back up and treat with maracyn first?
