Hyposalinity: how-to; when-to; how-long-to - Page 2

roadracn · 01/05/2012, 12:19 AM

taggin along. Tank crashed because of a algae bloom....fish stressed, ick exploded in my tank. RIP purple tang, powder blue, yellow, and my vala tang. Currently my SOHO, fighter that he is, is losing. going hypo now, wish me luck.

reckless1 · 01/23/2012, 06:09 PM

hello, i had ich in my tank and put all the fish in quarentine (almost completely cycled and all fish are happy and eating well). the QT has some live rock, proteing skimmer, HOB filter and some PVC pipes as well... i am noticing the two Hippo tangs (blue regal) are starting to show signs of ick again and scratching occasionally. none of the other tangs or fish are showing sings yet (tank has been fallow for three weeks and will remain so until treatment ends). My question is can i do Hyposalinity on the QT with the live rock, skimmer etc) or will the bacteria die off and force me to do water changes every two days to combat ammonia???... Also how will the PH be affected in the QT when i start doing hypo will i have to use some sort of buffer???

sincerely,

robin

fpv930 · 02/08/2012, 04:10 PM

Roadracn - Sorry to hear of your crash in the display. Good luck with the SOHO in the hypo.

Reckless1 - I would continue to a hypo in the QT. If needed, you can remove the LR. Also, the LR can harbor the Ich parasite just as a sandbed. This is the reason for a bare bottom and no LR in the QT. If you need to combat ammonia you can perform water changes as needed. You also can use Kardon's AmQuel which removes ammonia. As for the PH, keep some baking soda close by if needed to raise the ph.

I had 5 fish in Hypo for 4 weeks and all went well.

racefan · 02/18/2012, 09:46 AM

I just finished a hypo treatment. What do I need to do to my Q/T tank to ensure it's free of the Ich parasite? Would a wash with a vinegar solution suffice?

fdonophan · 03/04/2012, 01:30 PM

The hardest part of hypo, for me, is PATIENCE! I'm at 7 weeks finally. I miss my fish! I keep reminding myself this is my punishment for not QTing in the first place, so I keep waiting. It's about time to start raising my salinity, so at least I feel like there is some action.

During the hypo period, I have tried to focus on water quality and scaping in my DT so that I feel proactive. I feel like my display is ten times more beautiful and healthy than it was, and my fish will have a clean, exciting new home to come back to.

fishlearner · 04/11/2012, 07:36 PM

Can someone help me out...comment a little about water changes during hypo treatment ? When to do it, how often, caveats etc.

If ammonia becomes detectable, water change or just amquel ?

thanks !!

symon_say · 04/13/2012, 09:46 AM

A little tip, you can set a ATO for a QT with a float valve a 5 gallon bucket, easy and cheap, that will take this variable out of the equation.

And the other point, if you like me set the tank next to you DT and you have a controller you can use the controller to monitor the QT ph and dose if needed or add it to your ATO water once you determine how water swing.

yachtdr22 · 04/20/2012, 02:05 AM

anything wrong with using 8 week fallow DT water to bring up the salinity in a 8 week HT coming back from 1.009?

@ Week 4 of hypo. issues with pH Climbing?

symon_say · 04/28/2012, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yachtdr22

anything wrong with using 8 week fallow DT water to bring up the salinity in a 8 week HT coming back from 1.009?

@ Week 4 of hypo. issues with pH Climbing?

If there is any parasite left in the water column can infect your fish again.

yachtdr22 · 04/28/2012, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by symon_say

If there is any parasite left in the water column can infect your fish again.

Thanks,

I decided it wasnt worth the risk to even try.....

mattsilvester · 04/29/2012, 08:43 AM

Will hypo kill all tomonts - even the super-dooper-freaky 99.9th percentile dormant ones that can lie dormant for 72 days?

snorvich · 04/29/2012, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattsilvester

Will hypo kill all tomonts - even the super-dooper-freaky 99.9th percentile dormant ones that can lie dormant for 72 days?

No, tomites are vulnerable, tomonts are not.

jimmy007 · 11/02/2012, 01:16 PM

Hi my display tank total volume is around 250 galllons. My fishes has ick and I want to use the hypo treatment. I will remove all my corals and rocks from the tank to start the treatment. Here is what I currently have running in the tank a 1500 laugna return pump, 6105 and 6060 tunze power head, tunze wavevbox and a bubble king 250 cone. What other equipment do I need? My current salinity is 1.020 and temp is 79-80. How many days should I take to low the salinity to 1.009?

If I remove my live rocks and put it in the rubbermaid container with my display water how long do I leave it there before return it to the display. What equipments should be added for the rock?

Let me know if I miss anything?

Thanks in advance Jimmy

cougaran · 11/02/2012, 10:20 PM

You will want to probably drop the protein skimmer from the tank for now as it won't run correctly in low salinity. Keep temperature the same, DO NOT raise temp as this is only effective for freshwater ich. I would gradually change over to 1.009. with the loss of rocks I'm sure you are already at a loss of water. The idea is not to stress the fish too much by doing too rapid of a change. The water you are putting in will be most likely a different temperature unless you heat that as well. Several days will be ok. You most likely will notice a change in the fish immediately because they will have more oxygen with a lower salinity, plus they use less energy. You want to monitor for ammonia spikes, which can happen as you are removing part of your filtration(liverock and protein skimmer) You may want to look into water treatment products that neutralizes ammonia. I like to keep an ammonia badge in the tank so i can see if there are any problems going on...Good luck

jimmy007 · 11/03/2012, 03:46 AM

Thanks cougaran. I decide to setup a 100 gallons hypo tank without live rock or sand just PVC pipes. I just hook up my eheim canister filter with hollow ceramic materials and sponges to my display. Should I add carbon to the filter? How long does it have to run before I can transfer the filter to the hypo tank? I will have two power head, two air pumps and two heaters in the tank. Can I use 80 gallons from display tank and 20 gallons ro/di and transfer the fishes from display the same day? How often do I need to test the tank for ph, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate? How often should I can water and what percentage? Iwill also add a ph monitor to check the ph. Am I missing anything? Sorry for all the questions.

Thanks Jimmy

flameangel88 · 11/03/2012, 10:36 AM

It normally take me 4 days to drop the sg from 1.024-5 down to 1.008-9 but since your sg is already down to 1.020 you can probably do it in 3 if you want. I keep the sg at 1.008-9 for 10 weeks before raising the sg and I take almost double the time to bring it up so it will be less stressful to the fish. Some fish may experience hlle especially tangs and angels while in hypo but once they come out of hypo with good feeding they will be fine.

Cougaran make very good points on water quality so follow his points carefully. I normally perform 20-25% water change every 3 days the first week and every 5 days the second to third week the drop back to every 2 weeks once the fish looks better.

btw--80g from display and 20g from rodi should be fine.

lhm nole · 11/03/2012, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flameangel88

It normally take me 4 days to drop the sg from 1.024-5 down to 1.008-9 but since your sg is already down to 1.020 you can probably do it in 3 if you want. I keep the sg at 1.008-9 for 10 weeks before raising the sg and I take almost double the time to bring it up so it will be less stressful to the fish. Some fish may experience hlle especially tangs and angels while in hypo but once they come out of hypo with good feeding they will be fine.

Cougaran make very good points on water quality so follow his points carefully. I normally perform 20-25% water change every 3 days the first week and every 5 days the second to third week the drop back to every 2 weeks once the fish looks better.

btw--80g from display and 20g from rodi should be fine.

I never had issues with hlle using hypo now cupramine yes every time but quickly heals after removal

jimmy007 · 11/03/2012, 02:01 PM

Ok thanks for your help. I will remove my fishes from the display tonight and start my hypo treatment.

cougaran · 11/03/2012, 02:43 PM

100 gallon hypo tank a much better idea, I would have suggested that but sometimes the fish are just too big, no room for another tank, or the expenses of another tank..... On a hypo treatment you can use carbon, but just be aware that if you decided to try any medications the carbon will absorb most of them. Now for testing-- I like to use a teaspoon of baking soda in my water changes and this helps keep it rock steady ph. So I very rarely check this.. As for ammonia I mention an inexpensive ammonia badge in the tank helps, there like $7 or 8 bucks..Other wise I would check ammonia the most often. Nitrite would be high only after an ammonia spike..so no ammonia spike no nitrite. check this once in awhile...Fish can tolerate some nitrate, but generally this doesnt get too high in QT. Try and keep feeding to normal levels and not go overboard. Check nitrate once in awhile.

As for the nitrifying bacteria from another tank that can be a mixed bag. I normally always run a mechanical filter in my set up, this way i always have filter media available with the bacteria on it that can be used in a qt tank. The problem what I have been told, but have no way to verify is that during the process of going from salt to less salty I was told that the bacteria thats there dies off..However it never seems the case as when I have gradually changed the salinity my ammonia,nitrite stay at 0. But I do use water treatment as well, so who knows.. All I know is that ammonia is bad for fish!

jimmy007 · 11/04/2012, 02:24 AM

I setup my hypo tank today and it actually a 80 gallons tank instead of 100. I added 60 gallons of display tank water and 20 gallons of ro/di. I check the salinity and it measured 1.015. I check the water quality and here is what I got does this sound right

PH - 8.0
Ammonia - .50
Nitrite - .50
Nitrate - 160

Should I continue to lower the salinity tomorrow by change 10 gallons of ro/di or should I change it water new saltwater with salinity at 1.015?

Thanks

jimmy007 · 11/04/2012, 02:26 AM

Also I miss one damsel in the display will this mess me up with getting rid of ick in the display?

Bullet Reef · 11/04/2012, 02:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimmy007

Also I miss one damsel in the display will this mess me up with getting rid of ick in the display?

Yes!

jimmy007 · 11/04/2012, 02:57 AM

My plan is try to catch it without removing the rocks. It hide in the rock when I removed it and didn't know until I put all the rocks back.

flameangel88 · 11/04/2012, 06:19 AM

The clock doesn't start till you get the last fish out of the DT and the same for the HT till the last fish in. It's best to remove it and put into the HT as quickly as possible for the 8 weeks or 10 weeks you plan to do hypo so the clock can start the countdown.

Best of Luck. Let us know how the fishes are doing as you should see marked improvement once you drop the sg.

jimmy007 · 11/04/2012, 10:32 AM

I will catch it today. Does my test result sound right? Should I continue to lower the salinity again today with 10 gallons water change with ro/di?

02/08/2012, 04:10 PM	#28
fpv930 Reef Addict Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Syracuse New York Posts: 292	Roadracn - Sorry to hear of your crash in the display. Good luck with the SOHO in the hypo. Reckless1 - I would continue to a hypo in the QT. If needed, you can remove the LR. Also, the LR can harbor the Ich parasite just as a sandbed. This is the reason for a bare bottom and no LR in the QT. If you need to combat ammonia you can perform water changes as needed. You also can use Kardon's AmQuel which removes ammonia. As for the PH, keep some baking soda close by if needed to raise the ph. I had 5 fish in Hypo for 4 weeks and all went well. __________________ 36 Bow front, 10g nano and building a 90g in my basement Always dreaming of a bigger tank!!

03/04/2012, 01:30 PM	#30
fdonophan Franimal Join Date: May 2008 Location: Suncoast of Florida Posts: 453	The hardest part of hypo, for me, is PATIENCE! I'm at 7 weeks finally. I miss my fish! I keep reminding myself this is my punishment for not QTing in the first place, so I keep waiting. It's about time to start raising my salinity, so at least I feel like there is some action. During the hypo period, I have tried to focus on water quality and scaping in my DT so that I feel proactive. I feel like my display is ten times more beautiful and healthy than it was, and my fish will have a clean, exciting new home to come back to. __________________ -Fran Do not dumb here. Not dumb area here. Current Tank Info: Ecopico Office Reef

04/20/2012, 02:05 AM	#33
yachtdr22 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: corpus christi, tx Posts: 488	anything wrong with using 8 week fallow DT water to bring up the salinity in a 8 week HT coming back from 1.009? @ Week 4 of hypo. issues with pH Climbing? __________________ 125 FOLR, 30 gal sump w/LR, SWC 16

04/29/2012, 08:43 AM	#36
mattsilvester Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2000 Location: Bangkok, Thailand Posts: 3,375	Will hypo kill all tomonts - even the super-dooper-freaky 99.9th percentile dormant ones that can lie dormant for 72 days? __________________ Regards, Matt "Rules are for the obedience of fools and the guidance of wise men." "Nemo mortalium omnibus horis sapit" - no man is at all times wise. "To a hammer, everything is a nail!" Current Tank Info: RSM 130

11/02/2012, 10:20 PM	#39
cougaran Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Western Mass Posts: 666	You will want to probably drop the protein skimmer from the tank for now as it won't run correctly in low salinity. Keep temperature the same, DO NOT raise temp as this is only effective for freshwater ich. I would gradually change over to 1.009. with the loss of rocks I'm sure you are already at a loss of water. The idea is not to stress the fish too much by doing too rapid of a change. The water you are putting in will be most likely a different temperature unless you heat that as well. Several days will be ok. You most likely will notice a change in the fish immediately because they will have more oxygen with a lower salinity, plus they use less energy. You want to monitor for ammonia spikes, which can happen as you are removing part of your filtration(liverock and protein skimmer) You may want to look into water treatment products that neutralizes ammonia. I like to keep an ammonia badge in the tank so i can see if there are any problems going on...Good luck __________________ Countless years exp SW & FW(in other words I've given up a few times over 30 years, but always come back for more punishment) Current Tank Info: 90 Gal w/ 20 Gal Refugium(setup since 2005), 38 & 29 QT. 300 Gal marineland setup in progress.

01/05/2012, 12:19 AM	#26
roadracn Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Aurora Posts: 675	taggin along. Tank crashed because of a algae bloom....fish stressed, ick exploded in my tank. RIP purple tang, powder blue, yellow, and my vala tang. Currently my SOHO, fighter that he is, is losing. going hypo now, wish me luck.

01/23/2012, 06:09 PM	#27
reckless1 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Kingston, Jamaica Posts: 74	hello, i had ich in my tank and put all the fish in quarentine (almost completely cycled and all fish are happy and eating well). the QT has some live rock, proteing skimmer, HOB filter and some PVC pipes as well... i am noticing the two Hippo tangs (blue regal) are starting to show signs of ick again and scratching occasionally. none of the other tangs or fish are showing sings yet (tank has been fallow for three weeks and will remain so until treatment ends). My question is can i do Hyposalinity on the QT with the live rock, skimmer etc) or will the bacteria die off and force me to do water changes every two days to combat ammonia???... Also how will the PH be affected in the QT when i start doing hypo will i have to use some sort of buffer??? sincerely, robin

02/18/2012, 09:46 AM	#29
racefan Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 123	I just finished a hypo treatment. What do I need to do to my Q/T tank to ensure it's free of the Ich parasite? Would a wash with a vinegar solution suffice?

04/11/2012, 07:36 PM	#31
fishlearner Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 17	Can someone help me out...comment a little about water changes during hypo treatment ? When to do it, how often, caveats etc. If ammonia becomes detectable, water change or just amquel ? thanks !!

04/13/2012, 09:46 AM	#32
symon_say Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Dominican Republic Posts: 556	A little tip, you can set a ATO for a QT with a float valve a 5 gallon bucket, easy and cheap, that will take this variable out of the equation. And the other point, if you like me set the tank next to you DT and you have a controller you can use the controller to monitor the QT ph and dose if needed or add it to your ATO water once you determine how water swing.

11/02/2012, 01:16 PM	#38
jimmy007 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: El Monte Posts: 966	Hi my display tank total volume is around 250 galllons. My fishes has ick and I want to use the hypo treatment. I will remove all my corals and rocks from the tank to start the treatment. Here is what I currently have running in the tank a 1500 laugna return pump, 6105 and 6060 tunze power head, tunze wavevbox and a bubble king 250 cone. What other equipment do I need? My current salinity is 1.020 and temp is 79-80. How many days should I take to low the salinity to 1.009? If I remove my live rocks and put it in the rubbermaid container with my display water how long do I leave it there before return it to the display. What equipments should be added for the rock? Let me know if I miss anything? Thanks in advance Jimmy

11/03/2012, 03:46 AM	#40
jimmy007 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: El Monte Posts: 966	Thanks cougaran. I decide to setup a 100 gallons hypo tank without live rock or sand just PVC pipes. I just hook up my eheim canister filter with hollow ceramic materials and sponges to my display. Should I add carbon to the filter? How long does it have to run before I can transfer the filter to the hypo tank? I will have two power head, two air pumps and two heaters in the tank. Can I use 80 gallons from display tank and 20 gallons ro/di and transfer the fishes from display the same day? How often do I need to test the tank for ph, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate? How often should I can water and what percentage? Iwill also add a ph monitor to check the ph. Am I missing anything? Sorry for all the questions. Thanks Jimmy

11/03/2012, 10:36 AM	#41
flameangel88 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: NJ Posts: 3,998	It normally take me 4 days to drop the sg from 1.024-5 down to 1.008-9 but since your sg is already down to 1.020 you can probably do it in 3 if you want. I keep the sg at 1.008-9 for 10 weeks before raising the sg and I take almost double the time to bring it up so it will be less stressful to the fish. Some fish may experience hlle especially tangs and angels while in hypo but once they come out of hypo with good feeding they will be fine. Cougaran make very good points on water quality so follow his points carefully. I normally perform 20-25% water change every 3 days the first week and every 5 days the second to third week the drop back to every 2 weeks once the fish looks better. btw--80g from display and 20g from rodi should be fine.

11/03/2012, 02:01 PM	#43
jimmy007 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: El Monte Posts: 966	Ok thanks for your help. I will remove my fishes from the display tonight and start my hypo treatment.

11/03/2012, 02:43 PM	#44
cougaran Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Western Mass Posts: 666	100 gallon hypo tank a much better idea, I would have suggested that but sometimes the fish are just too big, no room for another tank, or the expenses of another tank..... On a hypo treatment you can use carbon, but just be aware that if you decided to try any medications the carbon will absorb most of them. Now for testing-- I like to use a teaspoon of baking soda in my water changes and this helps keep it rock steady ph. So I very rarely check this.. As for ammonia I mention an inexpensive ammonia badge in the tank helps, there like $7 or 8 bucks..Other wise I would check ammonia the most often. Nitrite would be high only after an ammonia spike..so no ammonia spike no nitrite. check this once in awhile...Fish can tolerate some nitrate, but generally this doesnt get too high in QT. Try and keep feeding to normal levels and not go overboard. Check nitrate once in awhile. As for the nitrifying bacteria from another tank that can be a mixed bag. I normally always run a mechanical filter in my set up, this way i always have filter media available with the bacteria on it that can be used in a qt tank. The problem what I have been told, but have no way to verify is that during the process of going from salt to less salty I was told that the bacteria thats there dies off..However it never seems the case as when I have gradually changed the salinity my ammonia,nitrite stay at 0. But I do use water treatment as well, so who knows.. All I know is that ammonia is bad for fish! __________________ Countless years exp SW & FW(in other words I've given up a few times over 30 years, but always come back for more punishment) Current Tank Info: 90 Gal w/ 20 Gal Refugium(setup since 2005), 38 & 29 QT. 300 Gal marineland setup in progress.

11/04/2012, 02:24 AM	#45
jimmy007 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: El Monte Posts: 966	I setup my hypo tank today and it actually a 80 gallons tank instead of 100. I added 60 gallons of display tank water and 20 gallons of ro/di. I check the salinity and it measured 1.015. I check the water quality and here is what I got does this sound right PH - 8.0 Ammonia - .50 Nitrite - .50 Nitrate - 160 Should I continue to lower the salinity tomorrow by change 10 gallons of ro/di or should I change it water new saltwater with salinity at 1.015? Thanks

11/04/2012, 02:26 AM	#46
jimmy007 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: El Monte Posts: 966	Also I miss one damsel in the display will this mess me up with getting rid of ick in the display?

11/04/2012, 02:57 AM	#48
jimmy007 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: El Monte Posts: 966	My plan is try to catch it without removing the rocks. It hide in the rock when I removed it and didn't know until I put all the rocks back.

11/04/2012, 06:19 AM	#49
flameangel88 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: NJ Posts: 3,998	The clock doesn't start till you get the last fish out of the DT and the same for the HT till the last fish in. It's best to remove it and put into the HT as quickly as possible for the 8 weeks or 10 weeks you plan to do hypo so the clock can start the countdown. Best of Luck. Let us know how the fishes are doing as you should see marked improvement once you drop the sg.

11/04/2012, 10:32 AM	#50
jimmy007 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: El Monte Posts: 966	I will catch it today. Does my test result sound right? Should I continue to lower the salinity again today with 10 gallons water change with ro/di?