Hyposalinity to treat Ich

[George]

Basic components for a QT: a tank (a 20G or 29 G is good for a couple fish up to 6"), a filter like aquaclear 30 or 50, a heater, some PVC pipes for fish to hide, and an ammonia indicator badge. Optional components are powerhead and airpumnp. If you do hypo, a good, calibrated refractometer is a must.
If you don't have a sponge for the filter seeded with bactieria aleady, you need to do more frequent WC for the QT.
QT all your fish and leave your tank fallow for 8+ weeks.
Cleaner shrimp doesn't work for ich because ich hides behind fish skin and inside fish gill.
Good luck.

[syncro]

I found live rock did much better than a large sponge filter (4 x 4 x 5 inch). With live rock I could go 5 days before ammonia built requiring a water change. With the seeded sponge filter (and an ammonia binder) I could only go 2 days.

Also +1 on the seachem ammonia badge. Really convenient.

[daniella3d]

I would never put liverock and treat with copper but for hyposalinity it is good if the liverock does not have any coral on it, like the type of liverock that we leave in a sump is good. It will kill all things in that liverock, like bristle worms, bristle stars, pods etc..but otherwise the bacterias and the biofilter survive very well and does the job at filtering the aquarium.

then once the hyposalinity treatement is over the liverock can be returned to the sump, very convenient way to set up a QT fast. I always keep some liverock available for this.

Originally Posted by syncro

I found live rock did much better than a large sponge filter (4 x 4 x 5 inch). With live rock I could go 5 days before ammonia built requiring a water change. With the seeded sponge filter (and an ammonia binder) I could only go 2 days.

Also +1 on the seachem ammonia badge. Really convenient.

[Reef Pilot]

I keep a canister filter with a sponge running all the time in my QT tank, so it is always ready when I need it. I have done the hypo treatment twice now, and never had any ammonia problems. I tried some of the other "cures" in the past, and they definitely did not work.

I am amazed when I read these threads how some people still strongly advocate some of the myths about ich treatment. Using cleaner fish or shrimp is just one example.

What fools a lot of people is that the ich seems to subside after a few days, and they think that whatever magic reef safe remedy they are trying is working. But that is just the natural cycle of the parasite, and subsequent iterations are usually worse when they return in a few days. And long term healthy residents often survive, but again, not because they were "cured".

The other mistake people make is not QTing long enough. Remember, to be safe, you need at least 6 weeks from the last sign of the parasite on the fish. My hypo process took a full 3 months in each case, and was 100% successful. The other benefit with the hypo treatment, is that you can get your fish eating well and they will be strong and healthy before being added to your display tank. And the fish seem to like the lower salinity, and easier to get finicky fish to start eating.