PDA

View Full Version : Directly to hypo QT - your experiences


thedoogan
02/17/2013, 02:28 AM
Who here acclimates their new arrivals directly into a hyposalinity quarantine? Could you share your process and experiences.

borderreef
02/17/2013, 08:29 AM
I ask my lfs what their parameters are, then get my qt as close to those specs as possible. That way there is little to no stress to the fish. From there as part of my 6+ week qt I bring the salinity down slowly to 1.009, then back up to my tank parameters using water from my dt. This way puts a lot less stress on the fish. Btw, I only hypo after a week of observation to see if there is any issues with the fish. If there are none of the usual signs of parasites, I leave it at the fish store parameters, then a couple weeks before introducing them to my dt, I get the qt parameters to the dt parameters.

thedoogan
02/17/2013, 02:24 PM
Thanks for sharing. What about a prophylactic prazipro treatment, to kill any unseen stomach parasites? Do you think it's possible for ICH to make it through a QT process without showing any signs?

Spar
02/17/2013, 03:08 PM
I drip immediately to 1.009 from whatever the salinity was that the fish came in, but go up very very slowly after QT is over. I know others who drip up immediately as well, I just don't want to risk it. I have had no issues with doing this, and the fish seem to start eating right away and don't look stressed.

borderreef
02/17/2013, 03:18 PM
I don't hypo or use any medications unless signs show that either is needed. By placing them back into the parameters they came from, I find my new fish swimming and eating right away. There are many threads about this topic, and everyone has their own method. Mine works very well for me, and I'm sure Spar's works well for him (her?). My lfs usually runs it's salinity at 30 ppm. a little low, but it is good in a sense that their new arrivals can get more of the available O2 through their gills. My feeling is that the less stress we put on our new arrivals, the better. In all the years I've been doing this, I've never medicated, and rarely used hypo (knock on wood).

borderreef
02/17/2013, 03:25 PM
Thanks for sharing. What about a prophylactic prazipro treatment, to kill any unseen stomach parasites? Do you think it's possible for ICH to make it through a QT process without showing any signs?

If a fish arrives with ich, and hypo for a long enough time (I think it's 8-12 weeks, but I'm not sure) is used to rid the fish of the parasite, there is no place for the next generation to mature to infect the fish again. The next generation develops in the sand or rocks before it infects a host. Hence the reason we don't have any of that in a qt, so it can be sterilized before the next use. Is it possible? Sure. But I believe hypo done properly minimizes the chance.

Spar
02/17/2013, 06:47 PM
Do you think it's possible for ICH to make it through a QT process without showing any signs?

I have never seen Ich on any of my new fish, but have put them straight into Hypo anyway, and I have also never ended up seeing Ich in my DT. Do I believe none of the fish ever had Ich to begin with? No. So I pretty much have to assume Hypo has done its job. However, also is possible that Ich is in my DT and I have just been lucky!

Where most people likely go wrong with Hypo is in salinity consistency. Most Hypo QT's are non-overflow style tanks that will have a large swing daily if not consistently topped off. And even an auto-topoff on those style of tanks allow for a decent swing between topoffs. I have an overflow style tank for that reason with auto-topoff in the last baffle area, making for almost no variability in salinity.