My first trip into Hypo

[Phoenix7506]

I moved all of my fish into my 20 gallon QT last night to treat for ich. These fish include a small pair of perculas, a small purple dottyback, a 3" japanese swallowtail angel, and a 4" Blue-throat trigger. The trigger has already been in the QT for a week treating with melafix and has not been in the display tank. I stopped treating with melafix 2 days ago. The tank is not all the way cycled and ive been using seachem prime and doing 5 gallon water changes every other day. The only thing that makes me nervous is that I get false ammonia readings with the prime.

Does anyone know what test kit would work with prime?

Last night I removed 10 gallons from the QT and moved 10 gallons from the display tank to the QT along with the fish.

Today I changed out 3 gallons of water and replaced it with fresh RO/DI water a gallon at a time throughout the day. The sg has gone from 1.025 to 1.021 today. I plan on reaching 1.009 in the next two days.

I read to use baking soda baked in the oven to stabilize PH when the sg drops down lower but how do I know when to start adding it, how much to add, and how often to add it? These are my main questions.

[Wall_Tank]

The Seachem ammonia test kit will test for both free and bound ammonia.   Unless you have a pH probe, do not try to control it.  The best thing to do is to keep the oxygen level up by using a good airpump/airstone.

This is going to be a long process.  You need to go hypo at least 4-6 weeks after the last sign of ich.   I would go 6 weeks after you last see the ich.   Then you need to take at least a week to bring the salinity back up.   The fish handle salinity drops much better than salinity rises.

Good Luck

[Travis8896]

Regular water changes is a must

[Wall_Tank]

Regular water changes is a must

No more than a normal tank would to control the buildup of nitrates.   Measure your nitrates and control as needed.

[Phoenix7506]

The Seachem ammonia test kit will test for both free and bound ammonia.   Unless you have a pH probe, do not try to control it.  The best thing to do is to keep the oxygen level up by using a good airpump/airstone.

This is going to be a long process.  You need to go hypo at least 4-6 weeks after the last sign of ich.   I would go 6 weeks after you last see the ich.   Then you need to take at least a week to bring the salinity back up.   The fish handle salinity drops much better than salinity rises.

Good Luck

I'm about to go out and see if i can find a seachem ammonia test kit.

I just mixed up water at 1.014 and did a 5 gallon water change bringing the sg down to 1.019. I added another dose of prime and some buffer to the water I added. Should I not do water changes until I see nitrates? I have none as of now but that's probably because i've been doing water changes every other day, Is that too much?

I ziptied a wooden airstone from a biocube skimmer I had laying around to the bottom of my small powerhead to keep oxygen up. The ph is still 8.1ish via an API test kit. If anyone close has a PH monitor I could borrow I'd love to. I'm sure the club or someone down in the dayton area has one but I can't find time for the drive right now as i'm getting married next weekend.

The temperature is stable at 76-77 degrees.

I think the dottyback got hurt in the move. He looks as though he got scraped against a rock. He was a pain to catch. Is this any concern?

Well here's a picture of the QT so you can see my airstone rigged up. lol Let me know if you see anything out of place.



 

[Wall_Tank]

Looks fine....   Maybe a little less air, otherwise the salt creep is going to be a problem.

Just remove some water, and slowly add Dechlorinated water.   No need to keep adding salt while you are bringing the salinity down.   And, no you don't need to change water unless there is something you are trying to remove.....

[Phoenix7506]

I turned the air down a little 

As I said the dottyback got hurt in the move. He ended up passing saturday night, but the the rest of the fish look ok.

I've only dropped salinity to 1.016 so far and PH is holding steady at 8. I couldn't find a seachem test kit for ammonia. The API kit is still registering .25 and I've continued to use prime daily.

Almost all of the ich has dropped off of the angel in the last couple days. She has a reddish spot where one of the larger spots were. The clowns and trigger have no signs of ich.

The angel and clowns are still little pigs. The trigger's color is coming back more and more and he is more active He ate frozen mysis for the first time tonight! He's still very shy when I'm standing in front of the tank though.

If anyone has any other suggestions let me know.

[Wall_Tank]

Just keep at it, you can get down to 1.009 a bit faster if you like.  This could just be the part of the normal life cycle of the ich.  1.016 is not low enough to kill the ich.   Remember, the clock doesn't start until you get to 1.009, and all there are no signs of ich.

[Viggen]

Like stated you need to drop the salinity quite a bit before it does anything.

I would think ph and other issues will not arise until the salinity is as 1.009 for a bit of time.  The sooner you get it there the sooner qt can be finished.  If I recall I had mine at .008-9 for 3 months

[Phoenix7506]

Like stated you need to drop the salinity quite a bit before it does anything.

I would think ph and other issues will not arise until the salinity is as 1.009 for a bit of time.  The sooner you get it there the sooner qt can be finished.  If I recall I had mine at .008-9 for 3 months

Did you have any ph issues during those 3 months?  I'm at .012-.011 tonight. I'm going to try and drop it the rest of the way tomorrow.

[Viggen]

To be honest I never checked.  I also only had 6-7 fish in a 475g tank....

[Phoenix7506]

To be honest I never checked.  I also only had 6-7 fish in a 475g tank....

That's one heck of a quarantine tank. 

I guess if the fish are acting normal it should be ok?

[Viggen]

It was either remove 400-500# of lr to catch fish and put them in qt

Or

Remove the 10-20 crabs/snails, a few pieces of lr and the anemone and a few other things stuck on rocks.  I went this direction and put them in a extra 75g & 30g sump that's in the garage.


But yea, they all ate ok and had normal colors so I thought they were ok.  Large tank with light bio load also helps a lot.  If I get another ich outbreak I will not be so lucky.  Hopefully add 10 or so fish to the tank next month

[Phoenix7506]

  If I get another ich outbreak I will not be so lucky.  Hopefully add 10 or so fish to the tank next month

I just hope all my fish are OK in the small qt I have. I just don't have room for a large one in my apartment. I'm getting attached to the angel and trigger so I'll keep my fingers crossed and keep a close eye on it.

[Twizted1]

As long as you keep an eye on your ammonia & trates you will be fine. Have h2o ready so you can do a quick water change if needed. And you will be fine.

[Wall_Tank]

Did you have any ph issues during those 3 months?  I'm at .012-.011 tonight. I'm going to try and drop it the rest of the way tomorrow.

With the extra air stone you are running, I doubt you will have a problem.

[Phoenix7506]

OK. so I'm down to 1.009-1.010. I have to get some more water tomorrow. PH is at 7.5-7.8 keeping my fingers crossed. Would it be ok to leave the light on 24/7? The fish are very active which makes me feel good. I wonder if I took a hang on box, filled it with cheato and put holes on the sides with a light on top if that would help.

I found an article with more info than I ever needed to know about hypo if anyone is interested. http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_4/V4I4/hyposalinity/OST.htm

[Wall_Tank]

If the stress level is low, then you can have a light on, but not 24/7.   Fish need to sleep.

[Phoenix7506]

I figured as much. Stress levels seem to be low and I know light helps with pH levels