Hyposalinity

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Chris_Nicol

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
May 25, 2018
Messages
33
Has anyone treated ich with hyposalinity before? I have 2x two stripe gobbies and a bristletooth tang in my QT tank and the tang has ich. I am going to try huposalinity but I have heard that the PH will swing which can potentially kill my fish. I have been reading posts on forums and watching youtube videos on the treatment and some say I will need to raise or lower the PH and others say the PH will be fine. I have a sponge filter and an internal filter with carbon in it (I always run carbon in it as I have used copper in that tank b4) if I create enough surface agitation will this stabilise the PH during the treatment? If not what will I use to raise/lower the PH?

I am hoping to start the hypo as soon as my ATO arrives. I bough one to try and keep the salinity as solid as possible

Any input is appreciated
 
I have a few times. Keeping the surface of the water moving will help with any ph swings. In all honestly it is better not to try to keep correcting it as it will do more harm than good. Best thing to do is just used seeded filter material from your tank . The beneficial bacteria can have issues in hypo but the trick to kick start it again is to perform a water change . The fresh mixed saltwater will kick the bacteria into action again. So keep an eye out for ammonia and if you see some change out some water ASAP. Make sure you keep the salinity lower than 1.010 preferably 1.008. Hope this helps
 
I have a few times. Keeping the surface of the water moving will help with any ph swings. In all honestly it is better not to try to keep correcting it as it will do more harm than good. Best thing to do is just used seeded filter material from your tank . The beneficial bacteria can have issues in hypo but the trick to kick start it again is to perform a water change . The fresh mixed saltwater will kick the bacteria into action again. So keep an eye out for ammonia and if you see some change out some water ASAP. Make sure you keep the salinity lower than 1.010 preferably 1.008. Hope this helps
Thanks for the input. Yeah well I have seen on here that chasing PH can do more harm than good. I just don't know when it comes to hyposalinity. So do u recommend using something like sponges to house BB from my main tank? I have spare sponges for my sponge filter. Could I just bleach them after they have been in QT and then put them in my DT sump for a day to gather BB?
 
Either use your spare sponges or a few rocks from main tank. I personally just used a few rocks from my tank.
 
The hypo should kill the infection completely through out the QT so sterilizing the sponge or rock is not really needed IMO.
 
Ok so I can just take my sponges out the QT and put them straight into my DT sump? I don't have any spare rock to put in the QT. Can I still run carbon during the treatment?
 
If my PH does drop would adding freshly mixed saltwater to the same SG raise it?
 
Not sure on the carbon . I don't use any .
If the Ph is 7.8 or over you are probably best to let it be .
The fish will tolerate this without issue.
It is very difficult to raise the ph in hypo due to the low alkalinity level you get by using 1/2 the salt...Understand that 8.2 or 8.3 is what many salts mix at when brought to .024 and at .009 7.8 is what is to be expected.
If you really feel the need to raise your PH then baking soda is best method according to many.Store bought buffers will not be effective due to the waters low alkalinity..
This from reef central;
pH Control
pH is hard to control in a hyposaline solution because at this dilution, the buffer ability of the diluted saltwater is not good. Be prepared for this.

Make pH adjustments with pure baking soda (e.g., Arm & Hammer) you find in the grocery store, or better yet is sodium carbonate. Sodium carbonate can be made in the home oven. Take a pound of pure baking soda and spread it out evenly on a large cookie sheet. Put into a preheated oven to 350F. Bake it for 30 minutes. Take the sheet out of the oven, let cool to warm and put into an air-tight, clean container for use. Now the baking soda has been turned into sodium carbonate, a more potent pH + additive.

DO NOT try to control the pH with pH buffer or other off the shelf additives. Use only the two mentioned above or a specific strong pH+ control. Those buffers are expecting a full sp gr. They don't adjust the pH. BUFFERS DON'T ADJUST THE pH. Buffers just add chemicals in an attempt to balance magnesium, calcium, and alkalinity in the hopes of strengthening the buffering ability of normal salt water. They don't work in hypo!

Do not add the baking soda or sodium carbonate directly to the hospital/quarantine tank. Always thoroughly dissolve some powder in RO/DI or distilled water then drip/add that in slowly to move the pH up. One of the things about doing this treatment is that there will be some water evaporation. So dripping in a sodium carbonate solution can also help maintain the water level. It's trial and error. Make up the solution the same way each time, using the same amount of sodium carbonate prepared as noted above, and dissolved into the same amount of water. Then practice different drip rates, starting very slowly (1 drop every 5 minutes for a 15 gallon QT) and adjust it faster or slower in small increments until the pH remains the same. NOTE: Sodium carbonate doesn't dissolve well in water. Use distilled water or RO/DI water and add small amounts to it and stir well. Don't add more until what you've added before has dissolved.
 
Not sure on the carbon . I don't use any .
If the Ph is 7.8 or over you are probably best to let it be .
The fish will tolerate this without issue.
It is very difficult to raise the ph in hypo due to the low alkalinity level you get by using 1/2 the salt...Understand that 8.2 or 8.3 is what many salts mix at when brought to .024 and at .009 7.8 is what is to be expected.
If you really feel the need to raise your PH then baking soda is best method according to many.Store bought buffers will not be effective due to the waters low alkalinity..
This from reef central;
pH Control
pH is hard to control in a hyposaline solution because at this dilution, the buffer ability of the diluted saltwater is not good. Be prepared for this.

Make pH adjustments with pure baking soda (e.g., Arm & Hammer) you find in the grocery store, or better yet is sodium carbonate. Sodium carbonate can be made in the home oven. Take a pound of pure baking soda and spread it out evenly on a large cookie sheet. Put into a preheated oven to 350F. Bake it for 30 minutes. Take the sheet out of the oven, let cool to warm and put into an air-tight, clean container for use. Now the baking soda has been turned into sodium carbonate, a more potent pH + additive.

DO NOT try to control the pH with pH buffer or other off the shelf additives. Use only the two mentioned above or a specific strong pH+ control. Those buffers are expecting a full sp gr. They don't adjust the pH. BUFFERS DON'T ADJUST THE pH. Buffers just add chemicals in an attempt to balance magnesium, calcium, and alkalinity in the hopes of strengthening the buffering ability of normal salt water. They don't work in hypo!

Do not add the baking soda or sodium carbonate directly to the hospital/quarantine tank. Always thoroughly dissolve some powder in RO/DI or distilled water then drip/add that in slowly to move the pH up. One of the things about doing this treatment is that there will be some water evaporation. So dripping in a sodium carbonate solution can also help maintain the water level. It's trial and error. Make up the solution the same way each time, using the same amount of sodium carbonate prepared as noted above, and dissolved into the same amount of water. Then practice different drip rates, starting very slowly (1 drop every 5 minutes for a 15 gallon QT) and adjust it faster or slower in small increments until the pH remains the same. NOTE: Sodium carbonate doesn't dissolve well in water. Use distilled water or RO/DI water and add small amounts to it and stir well. Don't add more until what you've added before has dissolved.
Yeah thanks I have read that post. I'm hoping the PH will be alright. I just want to know the best method for raising it so I can be prepared. I will see if I can get baking soda.

My new ATO should be here on Wednesday so I have started lowering my SG now. The tang actually looks fine now. No spots or flashing and has always been eating good. I think I'm still going to go for the hypo route just to be safe though
 
Ich has three life stages. It starts off living in the sand until it matures. It then swims into the water column to find a host. Then it finally forms cysts, which then burst and fall into the sandbed to restart the process.
The cysts are the only part of the life cycle we can actually see with the naked eye.
As for the ph, just point the powerhead at the surface of the water. Proper agitation will give you the ph you want, which will raise and lower naturally as the day goes on.
 
Ich has three life stages. It starts off living in the sand until it matures. It then swims into the water column to find a host. Then it finally forms cysts, which then burst and fall into the sandbed to restart the process.
The cysts are the only part of the life cycle we can actually see with the naked eye.
As for the ph, just point the powerhead at the surface of the water. Proper agitation will give you the ph you want, which will raise and lower naturally as the day goes on.
Yeah that's why I'm going to do the hypo. I'm pretty sure I don't have ich in my DT at the moment so I don't want to put it in now.

My ATO comes tomorrow so I will get that set up and start the treatment. I have a dual sponge filter and an internal filter so hopefully i will have enough agitation with them. Do u think I should put in my small powerhead as well? I don't want to have too much flow
 
Ok. I thought my internal filter that I am running carbon in would be enough. Thanks sniperhank
 
So I have set up my ATO and have been lowering the salt level. However I've noticed my refractometer only goes down to 1.015. I have put in ro/di water and rather than setting it to 0 I have set it to 1.015. This means I should be aiming for 1.024 to give me an actual reading of 1.009
 
Quick question. Am I better having my tank lid open? It does have a small flap that I keep open and there is a gap at the back for air to get in. I have just kept the lid closed because of the gobys but I'm sure I could make a lid of some sort with egg crate if it would be better to stabilise my PH.

Salinity is down to 1.016 so far. Hopefully I will get it down to 1.008 by the end of tomorrow
 
If there isn’t anything throwing water around like crazy, no I don’t.
I’ve run hob equipment in the past that made a mess with salt creep, but nothing because of an open top.
 
Yeah I've used egg crate to make a lid. I figured the more c02 exchange the better.

I still haven't got my salinity down. I'm away for the night but back tomorrow. I put in ammo lock since I can't do a water change today
 
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