anyone familiar doing hypo with hydrometer?

[new2scene]

Here we go again!

it looks like my yellow wrasse has ich. last 2 days he has been rubbing himself on the sand and constantly today although i can't see anything on him. he just got out of qt after being in there for 3wks and now in the mt. i am going to attempt hypo in the mt. the hydrometer (deep six) only goes to .012. is this sufficient enough to kill the ich? and can i do it in the mt with a shrimp and snails without them dying? also what about the live rock. I don't have any corals, but i have 2 feather dusters. i also have the l blenny. how long should i have them if possible in hypo. moving him back to qt is really out of the question. thanks

[b.branscombe]

1. You'll need something better than your hydrometer. Hypo when referring to ich treatment is 1.009. A hydrometer is also not accurate enough, as you'll need to stay as close to 1.009 as possible. A refractometer is best, and can be had for less than $50.

2. Most inverts cannot tolerate hyposalinity. You will need to remove all the fish, and transfer them to a holding tank. This can be something as simple as a rubbermaid brute garbage can.

3. Ich can only survive with a fish host present. Leaving the live rock and inverts in the main tank is fine as long as there are no fish present. You will need to leave the tank fishless for at least six weeks to get rid of the parasite. I would go with 8 to be safe. This will remove the ich from the main tank, and the hypo will remove it from the fish.

[coast2coast7390]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9742512#post9742512 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by new2scene
the hydrometer (deep six) only goes to .012.
these hydrometers arent accurate maybe for the first couple of test...invest in a refractometer

[bsaastad]

If you can manage two quarantines you can forego hyposalinity (won't cure oodinium anyway, only crpytocaryon) and break the life cycle of the parasite. Basically, set up a qt and put all your fish there for 72 hours (3 days). Move them to the other qt for 3 days. In the meantime, empty, clean and thoroughly dry the first tank (and all associated equipment) and set it up fresh so that it can receive the fish after three days. Do this one more time with the first tank so that they have been removed from their water three times at three day intervals.

The important part is to make sure each qt is completely clean in between so that no stages of the parasite may hide out from cycle to cycle.

IMHO, this is less stressful, less error-prone and more successful than trying to manage the SG in hypo or keeping copper levels at optimum. Yes, you have to catch your fish, but the stress of the chase can be kept to a minimum if you run a bare qt.

[new2scene]

the problem is that they are in the main tank. all was well for 3 weeks in the qt and now i noticed that the yellow wrasse is scratching against the sand bed. i can't see anything on him. could this be a false alarm. i tried to get him earlier but as soon as i take the canopy off he hides.

[Icefire]

You can't treat a display tank, hypo/copper will kill your live rock.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9743515#post9743515 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bsaastad
If you can manage two quarantines you can forego hyposalinity (won't cure oodinium anyway, only crpytocaryon) and break the life cycle of the parasite. Basically, set up a qt and put all your fish there for 72 hours (3 days). Move them to the other qt for 3 days. In the meantime, empty, clean and thoroughly dry the first tank (and all associated equipment) and set it up fresh so that it can receive the fish after three days. Do this one more time with the first tank so that they have been removed from their water three times at three day intervals.

The important part is to make sure each qt is completely clean in between so that no stages of the parasite may hide out from cycle to cycle.

IMHO, this is less stressful, less error-prone and more successful than trying to manage the SG in hypo or keeping copper levels at optimum. Yes, you have to catch your fish, but the stress of the chase can be kept to a minimum if you run a bare qt.

That will never work, ich will still be there.

You need hypo or copper for 6 weeks, no less. And no fish in the display.

[bsaastad]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9744017#post9744017 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Icefire
You can't treat a display tank, hypo/copper will kill your live rock.



That will never work, ich will still be there.

You need hypo or copper for 6 weeks, no less. And no fish in the display.

Treatment option 5 here (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-08/sp/index.php) describes how this works. Note that it does not shorten the quarantine period if you have an infected display -- it needs to stay fallow for at least four weeks (six is better,) but this method does work to remove the infection from the fish by repeatedly leaving the various stages of the parasite behind. By changing water every three days as the parasite leaves the fish they do not have time to achieve their free-swimming larval stage before the fish have been removed from the vicinity of the parasite.

[new2scene]

i guess the next step is to round them up and i'll dose with Coppersafe. is the blenny ok for copper. i can't go out right now and buy a refractor for $80. thats a bit steep for my budget so i guess i will put the two in a 10g qt and hope for the best.

[Amphiprion]

Your blenny should be fine with Coppersafe. Copper chelates seem to be much more tolerable for many fish.

[new2scene]

i put wrasse and blenny into my 10g qt this morning and dosed with coppersafe. the problem is that my nitrates are around 20. i guess i should do another water change tomorrow. i'm thinking to empty whole tank and refill with the main tank water and re dose with the coppersafe. this i'm thinking, is the only way to do it safely, as i don't have a copper test and i think doing a 50% water change and adding half the dosage of copper is risky. any thoughts.