hyposalinity questions

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rokcrawla

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Sep 3, 2004
Messages
27
Location
sacramento
Still battling ich, lost my trigger today because he scratched too much. This is a fish only tank with no liverock or inverts of any kind, Im going to try hypo. Ive read that the SG should be at 1.009 I bought a nice floating SG gauge and Im ready to go, I just added the first stage of fresh water. My question is about the 1.009 value. Is it already adjusted for temperature or do I need to look it up on a table and get a new adjusted value? Also once they are well can I leave the salinity at 1.009 to prevent later occurences? Or would the fish suffer?

thanks,
Josh
 
Swing arm hydrometers can be notorious for misreading. When performing hyposalinity you are best off using a refractometer measured to 14 ppt. It is infinately more accurate and will make the treatment that much more successful. With the hydrometer, there is always the chance of misreading the correct SG and the treatment will fail. Most hydrometers are calibtrated for temp though. What brand did you get?

You should not leave the fish in that environemnt permanently and if the treatment is done properly it is not necessary. Provided the treatment is successful and all future additions are properly quarantined first, there is no reason any parasite should trouble your fish again. Lowered salinities are well tolerated by fish for upto a few months but too long and it will begin to affect their internal organs, specifically the kidney's.

Be sure to monitor pH and alk daily. They will fall off during the process, especially in the beginning.

Cheers
Steve
 
its not a swingarm style its a lab style floating hydrometer Im not worried about reading it wrong because I use the same style of hydrometer in a lab I work at where we use it to analyze soil samples. The one I have is calibrated at 60 degrees Farenheit. I was just wondering if the correction for temperature was already taken into account for the 1.009 figure or not so I could adjust acccordingly. Thanks for the info about longterm exposure, Im just a little freeked out because 2 of my favorite fish are dead now and I dont want it to happen again. I guess I need to start quarantining. Also what is alk? I always thought it was just the basic side of PH but from reading here Im getting the idea that there is more to it. Is there a test kit I need for it?
 
As far as the PH goes, you should be OK with water changes weekly, while checking PH daily and buffering every few days with a product like Seachem PH 8.3. It will buffer for PH & alk. Steve-s correct me if I am wrong, but with the water changes and PH 8.3 you should be fine without an alk test. It worked well for me when treating my hippo tang with hypo.

For hypo I borrowed a refractometer and found my glass tube hydrometer (and a swing arm unit) was reading sg ~ .004 lower than actual. Basically it read 1.009, but testing the water with the calibrated refractometer, it read 1.013. The treatment would have failed at that sg. The fact that they are calibrated at 60F could be the reason for this inaccuracy, not sure. At the very least it would be wise to borrow one and calibrate your glass tube by getting sw to 78d & 14ppt (with refractometer) and mark that reading on your glass tube. That would probably work assuming the temp is stable. You may find this link helpful, good luck with it.

http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/hyposalinity.html
 
srgetz said:
Steve-s correct me if I am wrong, but with the water changes and PH 8.3 you should be fine without an alk test.
As long as pH remains stable yes that would be fine. If buffer is required to augment the pH, you would need the alk test.

Cheers
Steve
 
The product only claims to safely increase and stabalize the pH to 8.3 it does not limit the increase to alkalinity. Excessively high alk can stress the fish and should be tested for. Much like your main tank, if alkalinity is acceptable and you have low pH or unsustainable pH, your fixing the wrong problem. Chemical additions are the wrong approach for environmental limitations.

If this was a quick fix for a temp situation I'd agree but the average QT time for most treatments is usually 6 weeks.

Cheers
Steve
 
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