filtration in a hyposaline tank

[kraut3253]

So I know that there's Ich in my tank. I have not had an outbreak, but I've seen a dozen or so spots on my hippo tang now and then so I know I need to treat the fish sooner or later.

The trouble is that everytime I have done hyposalinity treatments in my QT tank I have found it impossible to keep the water clean without lots of carbon and daily 20% water changes. The skimmer does not seem to work at such low salinities and any macro algaes that I have tried for biological filteration have died as well.

Does anyone know of a hyposalinity filtration strategy that doesn't require daily maintenance like the carbon and water changes approach?

[wooden_reefer]

Nitrification bacteria can slowly adapt to different salinity. Likely the same gradual change as for fish will do.

As usual, the medium of filtration for a QT has to be very well cycled in advance (which you may have missed because you just noticed ich) , either for using copper or hypo. Neither will have significant impact on nitrification bacteria.

Hypo kills higher inverts. Die-offs will generate ammonia surge that even unaffected nitrification bacteria cannot handle. No (other) inverts in the QT while using hypo.

[Chris27]

Also, most skimmers won't work in FW.....which is what 1.010 almost is.

[WDLV]

Yeah, what he said.

I wouldn't do it at all if it's a reef tank. WCs and amquell will go a long way toward warding off excess ammonia. The skimmer won't work because FW doesn't bubble the way SW does. So, the lower the salinity, the less the skimmer will foam up.

Look at the bright side. Salt is about the cheapest thing you could hope to have to replace in terms of chemical additives, filter media etc. and you only have to use half as much in a hypo system. I would much rather maintain parameters with WCs than with chemical media.

[wooden_reefer]

So I know that there's Ich in my tank. I have not had an outbreak, but I've seen a dozen or so spots on my hippo tang now and then so I know I need to treat the fish sooner or later.

The trouble is that everytime I have done hyposalinity treatments in my QT tank I have found it impossible to keep the water clean without lots of carbon and daily 20% water changes. The skimmer does not seem to work at such low salinities and any macro algaes that I have tried for biological filteration have died as well.

Does anyone know of a hyposalinity filtration strategy that doesn't require daily maintenance like the carbon and water changes approach?

If you had not waited until you see ich, you could have cycled a medium for QT in advance. As far as ich alone is concerned, QT is rather like the DT. You would not have to do any more WC in QT as you do in DT.