my tang has got an itch.
- Thread starter trigger40
- Start date
off up or off down??
pegasus
Well-Known Member
Yep, that's it. Distilled water is pure, absolute zero salt. The instructions that came with my Milwaukee meter exposed that little secret.
trigger40
Well-Known Member
it was reading low. i fixed it but all the fish have ich now. the tang has it really bad. i hope im not too late.
pegasus
Well-Known Member
Uhm... if the refractometer was reading low, the result would be hyper-salinity.
Lower specific gravity reading on refract, the more hypo it is. Hypo meaning reduced (specific gravity in this case).
pegasus
Well-Known Member
I'm not a rocket surgeon, but if it was reading lower than it should have, that would mean that the salinity was higher than what the refractometer was actually showing. How does that make it hypo meaning reduced (specific gravity in this case), when it was actually hyper meaning increased (specific gravity in this case as well)?
pegasus
Well-Known Member
Just to clear things up, what was the refractometer reading after you calibrated it?
2014FishKiller
Member
I does not matter is lower or higher, if were higher than he shouldn't able to be ICH free, if lower, now we are talking freshwater fish. I took it as early April fool.
pegasus
Well-Known Member
Think about it... when the salinity was higher, his fish had ick. When he lowered the salinity, the ick went away. Nobody's fooling anyone... lol!
PS: lower salinity isn't freshwater... it's brackish! LOL!!!
I see what you mean now. I was just reading your comment without looking at the context.
Ich on fish is going to go through a limited time attached to the fish, so hypo is not likely what has caused the parasites to disappear. Hopefully, with accurate reading on the refract, the process will work this time.
Ich on fish is going to go through a limited time attached to the fish, so hypo is not likely what has caused the parasites to disappear. Hopefully, with accurate reading on the refract, the process will work this time.
pegasus
Well-Known Member
I knew you'd catch it sooner or later... lol!This is true about the ick. Once the trophonts fall off and begin the tomont stage, there's no way to know if it's gone unless it doesn't show up again in 3-4 weeks.
2014FishKiller
Member
1.008+.005 = 1.013 - ICH will live without ant problem, therefore the ICH should never gone, he should have more death fish
1.008-.005 = 1.003 - is it closed the freshwater, how could fish live without any death.
pegasus
Well-Known Member
His meter was reading 1.008 during the hypo salinity treatment, but was 5 points off. This means the water was actually 1.013, which is not low (hypo) enough to kill ick. His ick came back.
Now think about this: if the meter was showing 1.024 before he attempted hypo treatment, and his meter was 5 points low, his tank water would have actually been 1.029... which is hyper salinity... which would stress the fish, weaken their immunity systems, and make them vulnerable to ick.
Of course, none of this is relevant to what is happening because he hasn't accurately calibrated his refractometer. You can't do it with bottled water. It may be off by far more than 5 points, or it may be dead on. We won't know until he checks it with the right solution (distilled water or calibration solution), which work on the same principle. Solution has a specific amount of gravity, which you match your refractometer to. Distilled water has zero specific gravity, so you match your refractometer to zero. Waiting for the update...