will Hypo salinity kill all the inverts in my tank ?
 

so ive been useing the garlic method for treating my none QT tang (big mistake) for four weeks now,but it doesnt seem to be having any effect on the amount of ich on the fish,coppers treatment is out so i was looking into Hypo salinity as the next best thing i can remove the anthelia etc but will all my other inverts die if i try this ie all the small tube worms and iverts on the sand etc.

inverts like their salt. they'll die without it.

if you can, isolate the fish and drop the salt. i had a smokin link for this at one time, make sure you use a refractometer to test your salt, not a hydrometer, as they're far from accurate that low.

It was written by the guy that does the chemisty forum on reefcentral..I can't find it off the top of my plate, but I'll keep looking.

All I can remember from it is you have to drop your salt to 1.009 in 3 days, then leave it there for 6 weeks. Don't change the pH or the temp, leave it normal, otherwise it causes un-necessary stress. Feed vitamine enriched food.

hth and good luck :biggrin:

thanks for the post,i dont have another tank right now so i'm to sure what to do i would like to seprate the fish but i would need another large tank to do so,if you can find the link please post it i will keep trying the garlic it did work for my clowns it worked in about a week so i'm to sure why there hasnt made a difference in my other tank,and from what ive read all the reed safe ich treatments dont work if i'm about that can anyone post the product name ....

http://www.petsforum.com/personal/tr...osalinity.html

-OR-

i can't find it on his site, but www.canadianmarineaquariumsupply.com email him, he sells kickick. 100% reef safe, I've seen it work on his 360g reef :)

So the fish has ich for 4weeks now? Has it affected the fishes health at all? If it is ich and you want to Q.t., you will have to remove all the fish and leave main tank sit without fish for at least 6 weeks, otherwise the tang will just get ich again when you put him back in the tank

will Hypo salinity kill all the inverts in my tank ?
 

I use a product called Greenex to combat stress related ich. Usually when I first introduce new fish. It is reef safe however it will discolor the silicone. Administered as directed, it may take a couple of weeks and can be removed with carbon.

Also have a cleaner shrimp in the tank. Not sure if it helps but have talked to others who beleive that cleaner shrimp help to keep ich under control and may even assist in irraticating it.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

Thanks for the posts,i'm going to give a product called kickich from ruby reef a shot see how it works,the cleaner shrimp would probably make a nice little snack for the wrasse.

I would consider just maintaining optimum water quality, feeding well and allowing the fish to fight off the infection.

Of course I use quarantine with hyposalinity to prevent this problem in the first place but that is another topic.

I have doubts about whether any "reef-safe" remedies are really reef-safe, and also whether they are effective, as a reef tank contains a lot of organic material which might inactivate medications and provide a place for parasitic organisms to hide.

providing the fish are otherwise healthy and are feed well can the fight off ich without adding anything to the tank ?

I don't know as I have never treated ich but from reading what other people have posted that seems to be the case.

If it were me I would not worry too much unless the fish were visibly sick ie. breathing rapidly, hiding in the corner all day, not feeding, etc.

trilinearmipmap

Saltwater ich is actually a parasite and not a viral infection. It has it's own live cycle and the intent is to disrupt the life cycle. Without treatment, the parsite will continue to reproduce increasing its own population. Since this parasite resides on/within the substrate, water column and on the fish at varius stages of it's life, it is considered contagious and will spread to the other fish in your tank. The fish is sick when you first notice them. If you wait for the symptoms you mention, it is probably to late, as the fish will be infested with the parasite and the time line to wait for the unhatched parasites to hatch and then be irraticated may be to lengthy for the fish's survival. My experience has shown that when treating an infected fish in your reef tank, it takes about two weeks to irraticate using the reef safe medications. It is highly recommended that it be taken seriously right off at the begining, as it is probably the number one cause of losses.

This link is added for your reading pleasure:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ichartmar.htm

Larry

Larry,

Yes of course ich is a parasite.

I am not an expert as I have never treated it, the reason is I use a four week quarantine including hyposalinity. So I will keep my fingers crossed.

I have read of many people who get a flare-up of ich in their tank from time to time, usually related to an acute stress such as poor water quality, temperature fluctuation etc, which goes away with supportive treatment and maintaining good water conditions. Also a lot of people use garlic which is similar to how my grandmother would treat a cold by tying a sock around your neck ie. an excellent placebo.

Anyway there are a lot of opinions on this and we all have to make up our own minds I guess. For me, I will go with a rigid quarantine regimen rather than trying to treat my tank later.

Thanks for the links and posts,i just got off the phone with chris at big als i was told that the best medication for reef type setup was RxP Parasite Treatment by kent marine has anyone used it before ?,it recomends takeing out lions aand a few other fish for some reason,and starfish,so snails etc will be fine ?,thanks again for everyone who is helping me kick this ich... :biggrin: