Hey all...got another situation that the books don't offer much advice on. Or maybe they do and I'm just not understanding it. 2 weeks ago, got a tiny baby Clown and Royal Gramma. 2 days later, Gramma had white spots and died. I assumed it is/was ich, but flushed it without necropsy (one LFS in town offers to examine dead fish, but didn't find this out until afterward). My QT had just finished cycling (Am 0, 'trite 0, 'trate 10), so I moved the Clown over there to help save him. Did some research and decided to go the hyposalinity method because no chemicals or radical treatments required, plus I've got to let the display tank sit fish-less for 30 days anyway.
Have finally got the SG down to 1.009, but now it looks as if the still-fragile biofilter in the QT has crashed. I've started registering ammonia (.25 or less) and nitrites (2.0) again. Have been doing 30-50% water changes every other day, feeding him tiny bits from my fingertip (he's so small he can't catch the food if it falls past him), scraping stuff off the bottom and sucking out uneaten stuff with a turkey baster, treating the water with Prime to detox the ammo/'trite, and put a big chunk of biofloss from the big wet/dry in the main tank into the QT tank filter to boost the good bacteria.
So far, he seems to be dealing with it okay, except he swims upside down a lot (which I assume is because he's so young and the salinity is so low he has trouble righting himself). Am I doing all the right things? Are there any other suggestions to help me get the ammo and nitrite readings back under control? He's got another 40 days or so in quarantine and I don't want him to get sicker from the treatment.
TIA,
--Aquabear
Have finally got the SG down to 1.009, but now it looks as if the still-fragile biofilter in the QT has crashed. I've started registering ammonia (.25 or less) and nitrites (2.0) again. Have been doing 30-50% water changes every other day, feeding him tiny bits from my fingertip (he's so small he can't catch the food if it falls past him), scraping stuff off the bottom and sucking out uneaten stuff with a turkey baster, treating the water with Prime to detox the ammo/'trite, and put a big chunk of biofloss from the big wet/dry in the main tank into the QT tank filter to boost the good bacteria.
So far, he seems to be dealing with it okay, except he swims upside down a lot (which I assume is because he's so young and the salinity is so low he has trouble righting himself). Am I doing all the right things? Are there any other suggestions to help me get the ammo and nitrite readings back under control? He's got another 40 days or so in quarantine and I don't want him to get sicker from the treatment.
TIA,
--Aquabear