Help! Deep Six hydrometer won't register

[jlindseyjr]

I'm trying to treat a case of ich with salt and heat before resorting to medication. I have a 20 gal tank. I upped the temp to 86° and doubled the salt from 4 tbsp to 8 tbsp. I've been adding salt and trying to get a reading with the hydrometer to no avail. I'm up to a cup of salt, which is 32 tablespoons, and the hydrometer needle doesn't move. I know the water is fairly salty by now because I dripped some on the front of the glass and it left a big white salt stain after it dried. I'm afraid to keep adding more salt because I have 2 emerald cories in with the platies and mollies, and I don't have a second tank to remove them to. What to do?

 

[fishfreek]

First make sure the swing arm on the hydromoter is free to move. It might be stuck or something.

1 cup of salt in 20 gal of water really is not much. Not sure what level of SG you need to get for hypersalinty treatment of ich but i doubt that would register much more than 1.005.

*Note, I am a saltwater person so please dont add more salt based upon my advice.

 

[jlindseyjr]

FF,
The arm on the hydrometer swings freely. Allivymar says you need 1.03 to effectively treat ich. I just figured a whole cup of salt would at least give me a reading, and I could go from there.

 

[jlindseyjr]

Bump for Allivymar

 

[Allivymar]

Here I am! *grin*

There may be something going on with the hydrometer; I've read the Deep Sixes can be innaccurate. Make sure there are no bubbles on the swing arm when you're trying to use it.

My guess is you likely have enough salt in the tank atm; 1/4 cup or so is usually sufficient for 10g; a cup should be well enough for a 20g assuming theres plenty of chloride in the salt (and there should be). It generally works out to around 7.6 grams per gallon to reach 1.002 SG or 2 ppm.

Don't add more salt; I think you should be fine with amount already in there. Do know cories don't always do well with salt tho; you may need to pull them if they start looking unhappy/uncomfortable.

 

[jlindseyjr]

I finally got it to read. When I got to 3/4 cup, I got tired of mixing, so I put the last 1/4 cup into a chinese soup container and let it sit in the bottom of the tank. When I got home form work last night it was completely dissolved. I stuck the hydrometer in and it read 1.003. Does that sound like enough? Most of the spots have dropped off the fish and I want to make sure all the swimmers die.

 

[Allivymar]

Yep; 1.002 is the minimum recommended SG to treat ich; 1.003 is fine. Nice to hear the lil buggers aren't reinfesting the fish to the extent they were; looks like things are working well

 

[jlindseyjr]

They seem to be doing better. At this rate, the spots should all be gone in a couple days. After that, I'll leave the heat up and the salt in for a week. That should take care of it. Thanks for all your help.