Fish behavior during hyposalinity?

pitons

pitons

Member
I'm about 3 days into hyposalinity in my 72 gal tank to cure an ich problem. Just curious to know what sort of fish behavior I can expect during the 30 day hyposalinity period? Should I expect the fish to be fairly inactive and have poor appetites? Or are these still a symptoms of the ich disease?
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Have you attained the 1,009?
Of course, if your fish are suffering with major ick you can expect them to "feel and act" sickly. However, it is not uncommon to see fish undergoing hyposalinity suddenly become ravenous eaters.
Don't fear ill-effects of the hypo. The fish will do just fine and should start perking up soon.
 
pitons

pitons

Member
Yes, I have achieved the 1.009. I slowly reduced salinity over a 48 hour period.
I lost a clown fish and my blue spotted jawfish during the process. The death of the jawfish was quite sad as his body split open and his intestines starting coming out. He was still alive and I was able to find a vet that could sew him back up. I was hopeful he would survive, but he died over night.
The vet basically said that the ich was really hard on his skin to the point of thinning it out. Then, the hyposalinity caused his internal pressure to be greater than the outside pressure which ultimately caused his demise.
I feel horrible about this because the jawfish is such a rare fish.
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Well, I must say I have never heard of this happening before, let alone a vet that could sew a fish up.
Hmmm.
 
gtc

gtc

Member
Pitons be sure to watch your ph and what are you using to measure your sg with, you may be lower or higher then you think if you are using a hydrometer.
 
pitons

pitons

Member
Terry, just repeating what the vet said to me. The vet probably was not an expert on fish disease, but she was able to put a stitch in the jawfish to close him up. I used 3 different hydrometers (both swing arm and glass type) during the process to ensure some level of accuracy. If it wasn't the hyposalinity that caused him to split open, what do you think it could have been? I'm really curious to know what could have caused this terrible demise of my jawfish.
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
I would suggest that because the jawfish was sick, perhaps he came under attack by another tank mate. Jawfish are substrate dependent animals. Did you use a substrateless hosptial tank? If so, placing the jawfish in with other fish could have exposed him to attack by the other fish---with no place to go as the sand was missing.
The only other possibility is that the fish had something else seriously wrong with him--internally.
I'd really like to know how the vet put a stich in this fish? Left out of the water during a surgical procedure, IMO, is the likely culpruit of dimise.
 
pitons

pitons

Member
It was easier to remove the live rock and the few inverts that I had and use the display tank as the hospital tank. So, I still had substrate for the jawfish. However, he really wasn't doing well since the ich and didn't always bury himself in the substrate. I did notice that my watchman goby seemed very interested in the jawfish, so maybe something 'happened' between them.
I wasn't able to watch the vet (and two assistants) put the stitch in the jawfish, but I was told they kept his head in water during the procedure. He was barely moving before the 'surgery', and was barely moving after it. Really, it was a last ditch attempt to save his life. I don't think he would have lasted too long anyway but I had to try something.
 
carrie

carrie

Member
Mr. Pitons or anyone else, I too have started the hyposalinity. In 2nd day of dropping the salinity down. Last night it's at 1.017 per my hyrdrometer. I've called 10local fish stores in my area and none have a refractometer, just the hydrometers. Any advice on websites you can recommend I'd appreciate it. I don't know where else to look...or can I keep using the hydrometer?
 
pitons

pitons

Member
Carrie, I used 3 different hydrometers (both swing arm and glass type) to try an eliminate as much error as possible. I think the combination worked pretty well. I never looked into a refractometer, so I don't know how much they cost or where you would get one.
 
jakob4001

jakob4001

Member
just curoiuos, did the vet charge you & if so, how much? I know of few that at the very least will --- large enough specimens for a price of course.
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
As I said, and so you helped to valid that the fish came under attack by a tankmate. Not at all unusual when a fish is weak or sick...happens all the time in the wild.
Pitons, good for you that you thought enough about the life of your fish, that you took him to a vet. But, next time, tell the vet that fish breath thru there gills not their head !
<img src="graemlins//urrr.gif" border="0" alt="[urrr]" />
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top