Quote:
Originally Posted by scubadawg
2 dead purple dottybacks this afternoon  |
You have my sympathies, for sure. I've been there and know how it feels. Hopefully you will get past this, and with the lessons learned have better success in the future.
There is a lot more to having a proper QT than just being cycled and having the same salinity (that is probably the least important). I should have said mature QT, not just cycled. That means having sufficient bio filtering capacity to handle the extra feeding and fish waste in a smaller tank. I have a canister filter with a sponge filter running all the time. Prior to use and as part of ongoing maintenance, I also change the water in the QT using DT water from changing that water.
Then after placing the fish in the QT, multiple water changes (with RODI water) are used to bring down the salinity to 1.008 - 1.009 (use a refractometer). That of course freshens up the water, too. The fish need to be at that level for at least 6 weeks since the last time you saw any ich symptoms. Any shorter, and you just wasted your time. The complete cycle for me, lowering the salinity, keeping it there (usually 2 months) and then slowly raising it, takes me a full 3 months.
Here is a good article about hypo, including many of the other benefits to your fish.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/6/fish