going to try hypo... a couple questions

[d_mcnugent]

first, i will need to buy a refractometer, is the one on this site a good one to buy? if no, what is a good one to get?
second, i have 6 fish in my tank, clown, 4 green chromis, and tang(with ich), so i will need to treat all my fish. do i put them all in my qt at the same time? its only a 10 gallon, and im worried that will not be enough space. i already have some pvc pipe, and will be adding more to provide more hiding spaces, will it be okay for me to put all 6 fish in the qt tank? keep in mind they will be in there for four weeks, is this ok?

 

[mr. limpid]

I just hypo my fish, that are left from ick attach. I have a 4" double back butterfly and 3 chromis in a 10 gal. they did fine. Just tested for amonia every day did 4gal. water changes as required. I have one of the refractometer from this site I love it, best purchase I ever made. You'll need to leave you fish in QT for 8 weeks (everyone says 6 weeks) b4 going back into display tank. Because of the free swiming ick in the display tank needs to die off. I put my fish back into display after 6 weeks, all have ick again back to square one. Give those buggers more time to die. Good luck your on the right track hypo really works.

 

[lion_crazz]

The refractometer on this site is excellent.
You are going to have to put all of the fish in the quarantine tank at the same time. They may be in there for more than 4 weeks though. You need to monitor the ich closely. When the ich falls completely off all of the fish, then you begin counting up to 3 weeks, and after 3 weeks, you begin raising the salt level back up over the duration of a week.

 

[d_mcnugent]

great, thanks for the advice guys, 8 whole weeks, dang... ill post any other questions as they come up, thank you for the advice and if anyone has any additional advice, tips, etc. please let me know

 

[d_mcnugent]

i feel comfortable with every step of this process, and i think i have grasped a pretty good understanding of what i need to do... the only thing i keep getting hung up on is putting all 6 of my fish in the 10 gallon qt for 6-8 weeks. i know this is what needs to be done, im just worried, are they all going to be okay in the 10 gallon together. the reason i am wondering this is, ich is a stress related disease correct? stress also leads to other problems, and any way you look at it, stressing your fish is nothing but bad right? well wont my fish be extremely stressed in this tank? especially for 6-8 weeks?

 

[saltn00b]

your fish might not be ok in that small of a QT, but it is all you have. what kind of clown is it, and how big is it and the rest of the fish you have?
i think you are calculating the time wrong or double. it should only take 4.5 weeks to do the whole process, but can take a little longer. its basically 48 hours to get the salinity down, then when there is no sign of ick, count three weeks. ick comes in phases so if it shows up again, reset the 'timer'. then one week bringing it back up. i would at that point keep them in there with the params like your DT for 1.5 weeks or however long it takes to total a minimum of 6 weeks out of your DT so the ICK that is in there dies off.
have a pH and ALK buffer on hand as ALK tends to drop when the salinity goes down. and check your ammo / trite / trates daily and have proper 1.009 water ready for water changes as needed with all of those fish.
also i highly recommend having NO sand and NO rock to stop it in another part of the cycle, and UV cant hurt. good luck

 

[d_mcnugent]

how am i doing my math wrong? you said 2 days to lower salinity, then three weeks after ich is gone, one week to bring it back up, and one and a half weeks to let them be before returning them to the dt... that equals 6 weeks roughly, which is the minimum i said, and if ich returns i have to restart the "timer", so possibly a couple more weeks... making it around 6 to 8 weeks... which is what i said... maybe im missing something...
please tell me more about pH and alk buffers, where do i get them? what exactly are they/what do they do? thank you.

 

[d_mcnugent]

its a perc clown, pretty small, just over an inch, the chromis are all young and small, about an inch, the tang is also pretty young, 2.5 or 3 inches... they are gonna have to be okay in the ten gallon, its all ive got, i just hope they will be

 

[d_mcnugent]

i havent put them in there yet, as i have to wait until the refractometer that i just ordered arrives... i just added a smaller piece of LR before i read your post, and was planning on taking it out right before adding my fish... should i remove it now? if yes, why?

 

[d_mcnugent]

Kent Superbuffer DKH.... is this a good buffer? it says its the best, but i thought i would get some opinions on that... also, you said i would need a pH and ALK buffer on hand... does that mean have a pH buffer, AND an ALK buffer, or are they the same thing, called a pH and ALK buffer? sorry for all the questions i just want to make sure i do this right...

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by d_mcnugent
Kent Superbuffer DKH.... is this a good buffer? it says its the best, but i thought i would get some opinions on that... also, you said i would need a pH and ALK buffer on hand... does that mean have a pH buffer, AND an ALK buffer, or are they the same thing, called a pH and ALK buffer? sorry for all the questions i just want to make sure i do this right...
Kent buffer is fine. What is the ph of your source water? You may not even need the buffer. Test your water VERY often (every day-twice a day) You will know if anything is needed before it becomes an issue. Hypo is not hard at all, it just need to be done correctly. Make sure you have the refractometer before you begin to lower the salinity. Is the QT cycled?

 

[d_mcnugent]

yes the qt is cycled, its been up for a little while, i have just ordered a refractometer and i will start hypo once i get it in the mail...

 

[d_mcnugent]

man honestly i dont know the pH of my water, i hope i am not shunned for not knowing this, i have had my tank for 5 months and am still quite a newb to this hobby, however, with my refractometer, i also ordered pH tests, and i plan on starting to regularly test my water... i will let you know as soon as i do

 

[saltn00b]

D - you are asking all the right questions, so good for you. you should have this under wraps in no time. your math is correct then, i just wanted to double check. your projected schedule looks exactly right. you will need in addition to tests for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate, the tests for pH and Alkalinity. these two tests are usually cheaper and return instant results (no waiting time), so they are easy to test for. those are the 5 you need to monitor for Hypo. of course also making sure salinity is where it should be and the temperature is steady, usually a nice warm 80-82 degrees. (some people say that higher temps increase the speed of ick life cycle, but i have heard recently you need to be at like 87 to do that , so it is not a proven fact.)
take the LR and any other calcerous material out of the QT before you put the fish in. after the Ich is in the Trophont stage, the trophonts (white specks on fish) burst, and the ick parasite swims down to sand or rock, or coral skeleton (calcerous material) and burrows in to change during it's Tomont (i think) stage. if there is nothing but glass / acrylic tank walls, and plastic corals or PVC, that is a dead end for the life cycle, preventing future waves from attacking. that Kent super buffer is great, i use it, and it buffs both pH and Alk.
oh also, you lucked out with fish size, they should be fine in the 10g for this time period, but next time consider a larger QT for emergencies like this, or prevent emergencies by doing hypo to all new fish (where necessary)

 

[d_mcnugent]

great advice, thank you so much... ok so i have all the tests that i need coming to me soon, as well as my refractometer... nervous to start this, but i think im ready. ill keep you guys posted when i do start

 

[saltn00b]

keep us in the loop. i have confidence you can do it!

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by d_mcnugent
great advice, thank you so much... ok so i have all the tests that i need coming to me soon, as well as my refractometer... nervous to start this, but i think im ready. ill keep you guys posted when i do start
Don't worry, hypo is a lot easier than it looks. Be sure to monitor your levels and adjust where needed. You will do fine!! If you have any questions or concerns at all just post them. We are always here to help

 

[d_mcnugent]

thanks guys, hey here is a random question for you... first off let me say, dont worry i am not going to buy any corals (or anything at all) until i have kicked this ich problem, but im just curious... i will be getting into corals soon after im done with hypo... and im wondering, how do you qt coral? my main concern is that my qt has just the standard lights, not nearly enough for corals, so how do you qt them?

 

[lion_crazz]

You have a 10 gallon quarantine tank. Just get a small 24 watt Odyssea power compact fixture to put on your quarantine tank so that you can quarantine all of your corals for 4 weeks. It will only cost you $25.

 

[dwendler4]

twenty five bucks, really? thats awesome... where can i get that, should i just google 24 watt Odyssea power compact?