Another ich thread :(

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bix

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So my dogface puffer has ich.... he had it a while ago but I did the whole denial thing and hoped it would go away... it did but came back and I want to get rid of it for good.

I'm going to do hyposalinity in a hospital tank, which leads to my question.

I have 2 domino damsels, a dogface puffer and a blue dot goby. My hospital tank is 30 gallons. Can I put all of these fish into a 30 gallon?

I'm worried about the goby. I figure the puffer and damsels will probably be fine together but there is no sand in that tank for the goby plus he might get picked on by the damsels.

Ich is terrible!!
 
So I should be ok then with all 4 of those fish in that size tank for 8 weeks?

I've read a whole bunch on the disease, QT is going to be used for a month (or more) for all new additions.

The only thing I'm worried about is cramming all of those fish into that small tank..
 
OK got the puffer in the QT and a refractometer.

Good start I guess.

I'm putting the temp in the QT to about 82 and will start making the water changes with fresh water tonight since there was already a .03 drop from the DT to the QT.

I know everywhere says to take all fish out of the tank for 8 weeks, I went and talked to the dude at the LFS and he said to just do the hypo with the puffer leave the others that aren't showing signs. I know this goes against everything I've read but is there a chance I could treat only the puffer until no more ich and have a chance by putting him back in without treating the others?

Or of course cramming all 4 fish into the 30 gallon, I'm not sure which is the better of the two?

At least now I can breathe cause I know the puffer is safe..
 
Hopefully he won't get reinfected when you put him back. Ck that, he will get reinfected, let's hope he has built up an immunitiy to the ick.
PS: raising the temp/ will only reduce 02 and not really speed up the ich cycle.
 
So you think I should just treat the puffer and leave the damsel/goby?
 
I personally think you should treat all the fish in the QT with hypo and leave your main tank fishless for eight weeks. This if done right will get rid of the parasite.
 
as melosu said,don't raise the temp I think that only works with freshwater.And again +1 with melosu-treat them all to be on the safe side.
 
Ok I will bring the temp back to 80.

I guess I knew the answer already from all the reading I've been doing, I want to do it right the first time. I Quarantined the puffer for 3 weeks too, I think a damsel I put in there first might have had it but it looked like too big of a spot to be ick at first and then putting the puffer in made the situation worse.

Will the goby be ok with a bare bottom tank?
 
I actually have some eggcrate sittin around that I could use... so I could split it up into 2-3 sections which might not be as bad.

I was thinkin the puffer/goby in one bigger section and the 2 domino damsels in the other smaller section?
 
Sounds like a plan. I, like mike think yoru should QT all the fish and putting a divider would solve the aggresion problem.
 
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How do you guys recommend controlling PH? Baking soda?

How low can I let it go before it becomes a problem?
 
splitting will not hurt. but got to your local hardware store and get some PVC pipe and cut it so the Goby has a place to hide, btw make sure it big enuf for the goby to fit in
 
Consistent water changes with well mix and aerated water will control your pH. I wouldn't add anything to it.

Let the water mix for 24 hours with a strong pump to equalize.
 
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Thanks Jimbo I'm going to give that a shot, I usually don't let the water mix with a pump for 24 hours is that bad??

Have the salinity at 1.015 PH is at 7.9.

I noticed a nitrite spike in the HT after I put the puffer in there, this is after having the damsel in there for about 3 weeks with no readings. I have a sponge filter in there that was in my sump for about a week then in the HT with a damsel. Thing is I also had a piece of live rock in there that I took out when I started hyposalinity... I think that might have been what was doing the cycling.. What are the chances the rock will recover from the drop in salinity, or do you think I'm going to be stuck doing 50% water changes until nitrites are gone?

Ammonia is 0.

Thanks everybody for the help! I may be new to all of this but I'm determined to save this puffer!
 
Also is there a fast way to vacuum the bottom of a tank if it is on the floor??

Terrible planning on my part I know, but there has to be a faster way than a turkey baster??
 
NVM the last question I'm going to move the tank up onto a counter in my kitchen so that I can vacuum the bottom easier. My puffer is going to hate me..
 
Puffers produce ALOT of waste so it will take some time for things to zero out. Until they do, I would go with frequent water changes and dosing Prime when you need it (emergency spikes).

As you continue to drop the salinity to 1.008-1.009, your PH will become increasingly difficult to maintain. That is when the baking soda will come in handy. Never add it directly to the tank, always premix it into your pwc to boost the PH, then take a reading to make sure your not going to sky rocket the ph. A ph of 7.8-8.0 is fine during treatment, the key is to keep it steady.
 
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Thank you Krypt.

I have the baking soda (well baking soda baked in the oven) ready in case the PH drops.

For tonight I'm working on getting the tank over to the new spot and doing a huge water change ( ~ 50%) in the process. That should be enough for me and Ron Burgundy (the puffer) for tonight.

I also started keeping track of stuff in my Gmail calendar, there is so much to remember with water chemistry etc!

Going to be a lot of work but will be worth it to have an ich free tank!!!
 
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