hyposalinity question

[enzo54321]

Hello everyone,

my tank is in a really bad case of ICH so I decided last night to start removing my fish and put them in a 90 gal. quarantine tank. I have lost many fish and corals in the past days because of KICK ICH:mad2:
I lost 3 Anthia ventrilis they were gorgeous, a copperband a leopard wrasse, 3 cleaner wrasses and 3 cleaner shrimps... I still have and want to save no mater what: a pair of ocellaris a red sea purple tang a flame angel 4 cromises a powder blue and my favorite a red sea REGAL ANGEL.


Anyway I started to put them in the QT and I just wanted to know how fast I can drop the salinity to 1.009 like recommended?

[ReeferAl]

It can generally be dropped over just a few hours.
When it comes to raising it back up, that should be done over days.

[Bruno3047]

Here's a few links. Read up:

http://atj.net.au/marineaquaria/hyposalinity.html

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/fish-diseases-treatments/23131-hyposalinity-treatment-process.html

http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f184/hyposalinity-a-cure-for-ich-126949.html

[enzo54321]

Thank you ever so much!!!

[Bruno3047]

You're welcome. Good luck.

[kraze3]

The Sg needs to be dropped over a 36 hour period.

[enzo54321]

so I started adding some R/O and the fish seem to be ok... will see I hope this works...

[snorvich]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14550370#post14550370 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ReeferAl
It can generally be dropped over just a few hours.
When it comes to raising it back up, that should be done over days.

Best is to read this URL http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/fish-diseases-treatments/23131-hyposalinity-treatment-process.html

Kick Ick is bogus.

[ReeferAl]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14551629#post14551629 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by snorvich
Best is to read this URL http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/fish-diseases-treatments/23131-hyposalinity-treatment-process.html

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14550614#post14550614 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kraze3
The Sg needs to be dropped over a 36 hour period.

If you read the links provided they are nothing more than someone's opinion as to how to carry out hyposalinity. The fact that the OP lays out his recommended procedure very precisely and neatly does not make it any more (or less) correct. It is still just his opinion . If you read the links you will see that there is NO reference to any evidence that salinity needs to be dropped over a long time period. Having said that I will provide another link to contradict that recommendation:


In Feature Article: Updating Marine Fish Acclimation Procedures: Part 1 (http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2006/1/aafeature2) , Terry Bartelme, a contributing author to numerous online and traditional print aquarium magazines states:
Marine teleost fish (bony reef fish) readily adjust to a rapid drop in salinity without any apparent ill effects. Place fish directly into a salinity of 12-14ppt. He is referring to fish arriving in the bag from the store or after shipping. Place fish directly into a salinity of 12-14ppt. That is the equivalent of an SG of about 1.010-1.012. I would recommend reading that article in Advanced Aquarist.

I have done this with surgeonfish that were looking a bit sick with NO ill effects. OTOH, I have dropped the salinity more gradually with some fish sick with Ick only to have them succumb before the water even reached hyposaline levels. If the fish are sick, the best thing is to get them quickly into less stressful, hyposaline water. If you are performing hyposalinity just as a precaution to treat healthy new aquisitions then you can take your time and drop the salinity more slowly.

Now, the advice I'm giving here is only my opinion (and Terry Bartelme's). There are certainly other opinions out there, but don't try to dogmatically say that your way of doing things is right and that I must be wrong because I disagree with you.

Allen

[RandalB]

I've dropped several dozen fish directly from 1.023 to 1.009 with no losses. Doesn't seem to bother them at all.

JME,
RandalB

[ReeferAl]

Here is another article from a veterinarian ath the Oklahoma Aquarium in Advanced Aquarist, Quarantine of Marine Fish (Teleost) Using Hyposalinity (http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2004/short.htm) . He states:
On several occasions we have received large numbers of fish at the same time all being introduced into an empty system. In these cases, the tank in which the new fish are being introduced to is acclimated to the newly arrived animals. The pH and temperature are adjusted down according to the arriving transport boxes. Salinity in the new tank is at 11ppt (1.008 SG) and the new arrivals are typically between 30 and 33ppt (1.023-1.027 SG). After adjusting pH, temperature, and detoxification of the ammonia, the animals are introduced into the tank. This is an immediate drop of 19 to 22ppt. These animals have shown no signs of shock or stress outside of what would be considered normal through shipping and handling.

Allen

[enzo54321]

Thank you so much ReeferAl;)

There is so much confusion and opinionated people out there...no way to know for sure but the articles sure nailed it!

[snorvich]

Actually Alan, I was not disagreeing with you. I do think Kick Ick is bogus. I simply said to read the link because it does contain some useful information about control.

[ReeferAl]

Steve,

Sorry. I misunderstood your comments as the link you provided is one that insists you must lower the SG over 36 to 48 hrs. Coming after the OP post saying "The Sg needs to be dropped over a 36 hour period.", I read your comments as "don't listen to him. Read this instead". Intentions can be so easily misconstrued in a forum.

It did prompt me to dig up some useful old links though. Rereading them (and some others I didn't link) leaves me even more convinced that a quick drop in SG is the best way to go.

Allen

[snorvich]

Well, I can only say what I do, and that is gradually over 3 hours. I missed the 36 hours part which is clearly both infeasible and absurd. My only real point is that there are so many snake oil products on the market that are ineffective at best and dangerous at worst. There are only two primary ways of curing ick and they are hypo and copper. I am not a fan of copper. The third way, the tank changing technique may also work but I have not tried that.

Oh, and I noticed I misspelled your name. Sorry about that, it was unintentional.

[lenny8671]

just a thought, but if you drop the SG in your quarenteen tank, which will stop the cycle of ich. I might be wrong in thinking that the parasite will be lying dormant in you main tank in the sand waiting for a new host. JMHO

[snorvich]

If a fish never makes it to your display tank without going through QT, that should not be an issue.

[ReeferAl]

Also, ick doesn't really "lie dormant". It has a set life cycle with part of that cycle on the substrate. There is some variability in the length of that part of its life cycle so a tank should be without fish for at least 4 weeks to ensure that the cycle has been broken.

This would apply for instance if you removed all your fish from an infected tank to a QT. If they are in quarantine in hypo for at least 4 weeks the life cycle will be broken in the display tank and it will now be ick free.

Allen