Eels in Hypo??

[slade1274]

I've been preaching the Hypo gospel for quaranteen and my buddy that has a smallish snowflake is wondering if they can be hypo-ed as well. He had a bit of an ick breakout and he's in the process of hospitalizing and needs info on what to do with the eel.
TIA

 

[nicetry]

Eels can tolerate hyposalinity as well as other bony fish. They are pretty much bullet proof and while they can contract parasitic infections, it is rare. If there was ich in your friend's tank, treating all the fish, including the eel, is prudent.

 

[guineawhop]

the snf is def tolerant of lower salinity. it won't hurt him a bit. you have to really try to kill them in order to hurt them.

 

[pimpnfish]

So then where do you inject the fish with the hypo? I dont know fish anatomy that good.
And is it the same as salt water or contact lens solution?
very confused sick fish
thanks.

 

[fishieness]

wait...are you serious about injecting an eel with a hypodermic needle?
Im sorry if you were joking, but id figure id tell you....
Hypo stands for hyposalinity. Acclimate all your fish in a hospital tank with no live rock, only some PVC for places to hide. Then in a periode of about 48 hours, reduce the salinity from where it is to as low as 1.009 ppm. Fish are very tolerant to hyposalinity, but invertebrates are not, this is why you cant have live rock or anything else, this is also why the parasite does not survive. Once there is no more ick on the fish, DO NOT YET PUT THEM BACK IN THE TANK!! Ick and other parasites are free floating, they float around your tank until they find a host (a fish) to hook up on. Then they grow realy big and drop off. During this time, they reproduce and make more little icklettes. The life spand of ick is about 3 weeks, so keep the fish in hypo for about that long, then once again over the periode of about 48 hours, though longer is always better, less changes in a periode of time, get your salinity up to the same as your tanks, and re-aclimate them.

 

[pimpnfish]

so where do the injections come in?
Doesnt the water have to get into the fish to? Because I dont know how to make a fish drink water.
Thanks

 

[rickster]

Can we get people off of heroin by taking away the injection needles and hypo-acclimate them to an environment free of icky stuff for at least a few weeks or more?

 

[jdm_ae86]

eels are scaleless, and have a thick mucus that covers their skin..so in other words, they cant get infected by ich like fish can.

 

[fishieness]

no injections are present. the hypo stands for hypo-salinity, not hypodermic needle. Hyposalinity meants to take out salt so the salinity levels go down. Fish can adjust to these changes, as long as it is not all at once, but many other types of creatures such as corals, live rock, and many parasites like ick cannot. This is why it is used in a tank with just the fish. This is why the water doesnt need to get into the fish, because parasites like Ick are external, so they are killed jsut by being in contact with the water. With less salt, the pressure of the water is much different, and can be devistating to smaller creatures, esspecualy those made up of mostly water (like anenomes). If your eel does have an internal parasite like some type of flat worm, i dont think this would be effective.
to JDM; u are very right about the mucus, it makes it so that the parasite isnt able to hold on. But all fish are like this under normal conditions with their "slime coat". But it is when a fish become stressed, due to poor water conditions, malnutrition, or even from another fish picking at it, that ick becomes present. I am pretty sure an eel can get ick, but it would probably be much harder. snowflakes are also very hardy too, so it would be rare, but im sure it could happen.