Treatment

[Vannpytt]

Hi, i got ich, or 3 of my tangs do. Current stock
Regal
Achilles
Hepatus
Purple tang

some wrasse and a few blennies. I've seen spots on the hepatus, purple and the achilles. Question is, wich threatment option to go for.

The story, I'm restarting my system and can leave it empty for a month without any problems. I have a 80gallon with all my corals for holding purposes. I can put all the fish in there with my liverock and run UV for keeping the ich at bay untill my tank is cycled for the corals. Then let the holdingtank run barebottom with hypo for a month and the display should be ready at the same time for the fishes? I don't have an ato, but do have a refractometer and sufficient filtration. Wich option is best? I also have an airpump and 2x 35 gallon holding plastic boxes.

I'm considering tank transfer or the hypo method. All fish are healthy and eating like pigs, fat and fine. The achilles is a year with spots on and off. The hepatus and zanthurum are new and more prone.

 

[MrTuskfish]

There are really only 3 options, IMO. Hypo, copper, or tank-transfer. Everyone has their "best' method. I'd read all the stickies about ich at the top of this forum and decide how you want to proceed. I'd also search & read several threads on ich treatment with the method you chose; that will help you spot potential problems. Research all you can; but much of the ich material online is advertising, purely anecdotal, or just plain wrong. Be sure of your sources. I wouldn't assume that treatment can be put off indefinitely because of the help you get from U.V. IMO & IME, UV is, at best, a little helper. It will not, and cannot, cure or prevent ich. It may help some if the flow is exact and the bulb/sleeve are well maintained. However, an ich explosion can occur at any time and UV won't contain it. I'd get treatment moving as fast as practical. The
real keys to completely curing ich (regardless of method) , IMO & IME, is to be very familiar with the ich life cycle, know your treatment plan, know what can go wrong and prepare for it, and have everything you may need on hand.

 

[Vannpytt]

Done a long time.. Going with hypo and my scrubber box.. Works as immediate ammonia filtration and lets me feed steadily even when qt ing.. How much water is going to skew off the salinity? 300 liters with say 5 liters a day evaporation? I can manually fill 2-3 times a day, would that keep it steady enough?

 

[MrTuskfish]

Evaporation in all tanks varies and I've never seen a formula for measuring amount of evaporation to change in SG. I'm sure someone could come up with one. Personally, I wouldn't attempt hypo without an ATO. But if you're willing to monitor that often , with a very accurate and calibrated refractometer, then you should be fine. Maintaining target SG is vital (obviously) and I've seen lots of posts on this subject that describe hypo SG as "about", ", "around 1.008', "1.008ish", etc. That isn't good enough, IMO.

 

[snorvich]

Evaporation in all tanks varies and I've never seen a formula for measuring amount of evaporation to change in SG. I'm sure someone could come up with one. Personally, I wouldn't attempt hypo without an ATO. But if you're willing to monitor that often , with a very accurate and calibrated refractometer, then you should be fine. Maintaining target SG is vital (obviously) and I've seen lots of posts on this subject that describe hypo SG as "about", ", "around 1.008', "1.008ish", etc. That isn't good enough, IMO.

Yes. If you are going to go hypo, you MUST keep it steady at 1.009 using a calibrated refractometer.

Easiest for the hobbyist is the tank transfer method.

 

[Vannpytt]

So 1.008-1.009 is the target as far as I could read, over is useless and under is dangerous for the fish?

 

[sandwi54]

So 1.008-1.009 is the target as far as I could read, over is useless and under is dangerous for the fish?

That is correct. When I did hypo I kept mine at 1.008. This way if you forget to top off for a couple of days the salinity would still stay in the correct range. Of course, always be diligent and rigorous with the treatment.