Acclamation from a reef tank into a hyposalinity enviroment...

[Patroklos]

So,

I am about to start my ich treatment and thus have been reading up how its done. I have two hospital tanks set up, a 15 gallon for my tang and one or two small friends and a 10 galon for everyone else.

Whole reading it was stated that I should try to introduce infected fish rapidly into they hyposalinity enviroment giving the parasites no time to ajust to the new parameters. In the very next paragraph the warned to slowely reacclimate the fish to normal salinity as to not shock their systems.

That seemed odd to me, are fish able to adjust beter going into a hyposalinity enviroment than a hypersalinity enviroment? Is "shocking" them with the hypersalinity the proper way to do this?

BTW, my reef tank has 1.025 salinity, my hospital tank has 1.017 salinity. The source I was using says the hospital tank should be between 1.010 and 1.013. Is this correct?

 

[roka64]

While it is true, it is "easier" on the fish to go to a lower salinity then a higher salinity, any huge difference is stressful.
The key is to set up your QT the same as your main and then slowly lower the salinity. The parasites will not acclimate to the lowest salinity and it will kill them. Once you are done treating, you slowly bring up the salinity to the same as you main's and then simply move the fish back to the DT.
Remember, while there are no fish in your main, add a pinch of food once maybe twiice a week to feed the bacteria....

 

[thincat]

Your fish can handle the SG going down better then when you have to bring it back up. So bring the water up to 1.025-1.026 over the course of a few days is best.

 

[melosu58]

On the hypo treatment it needs to go to 1.009.

 

[CaptainAhab]

Your fish can handle the SG going down better then when you have to bring it back up. .

Can someone link to this source? I never heard that, or adhered to it. Was always, and will continue, gradual down/gradual back

 

[GhostKnife]

Any sudden change stresses a fish or creature for that matter.

 

[melosu58]

I never heard that, or adhered to it. Was always, and will continue, gradual down/gradual back

Same here captain.

 

[Patroklos]

Well, it looks like it is a moot point. I just build every configuration of fish trap possible over the course of the day and didn't catch a **** thing.

I don't have the time, money, or resources to break down the reef so it looks like these guys will just be living with ick.

 

[ryshark]

Just incase anybody else reads this thread that is considering hyposalinity. It must be at 1.009 consistantly for at least 4-weeks. Also it must be done with a refractometer NOT a hydrometer. Typically the hydrometers are not accurate enough. A .001 difference will make the difference between killing the fish or not killing the ich.

I purchased some frags from somebody this past weekend that made a cool fish trap out of one of those plastic critter cages at the .99 cent store. He tied a long piece of fishing string to the door and threw a mysis cube inside and stood far enough away from the tank. Eventually the fish get used to the critter cage being in there and they will go in to get the mysis. When the fish goes in just pull the fishing string to have the door close and trap the fish inside.

 

[thincat]

"My Bad"...Slow down & slow up is the way to do it. I misread this article:
http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/hyposalinity/ht/ht_hyposalinity.htm

 

[Patroklos]

What do you mean by plastic critter cages? like a kennel?

 

[ryshark]

What do you mean by plastic critter cages? like a kennel?

It was something similar to this:
Critter Keeper - Small Plastic Cage - eBay (item 350201781607 end time Jun-12-09 16:41:47 PDT)