Hospital Tank and Ick quest

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by jamiegrl
http:///forum/post/2591650
under a miracle of god the wrasse survived and is happy and alive this morning
Does anyone think it's a bad idea for leave the salinity around 1.011 until I recieve the refractometer and get more acurate readings?
I dont want that to happen again and realize how lucky I am that he survived
Will this interfere a lot with the treatment plan?
The refractometer will be here within the next 1 or 2 days
At 1.011 the ich will be able to host the fish and reproduce. Your best bet would be to take a water sample to your LFS and have them test the SG.

 

[jamiegrl]

WOW just got my refractometer and it told me the salinity was 1.12 when the hydrometer said it was 1.009
no wonder the sixline wrasse was getting worse

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by jamiegrl
http:///forum/post/2596676
WOW just got my refractometer and it told me the salinity was 1.12 when the hydrometer said it was 1.009
no wonder the sixline wrasse was getting worse
That is quite a difference. Hydrometers are so terribly inaccurate. I am glad that you have the refractometer now. How are all of the fish holding up? How is the cycle going?

 

[peter1215]

Originally Posted by sepulatian
http:///forum/post/2590250
Copper and hypo take the same amount of time to be effective. If you were to use copper now, you would have to take a week or so to raise the SG first. You cannot run copper while the fish are in hyposalinity. It would then take three weeks for the copper to kill ich. The fish are already in hypo. Don't raise the temp on the QT. I suggested that in the display because no fish are in there. The ich life cycle MAY be sped up and they would have no host to feed from. Keep going as planned. What is the ammonia and nitrite reading in the QT?
why cant you treat copper and hypo at the same time?

 

[jamiegrl]

no you cannot do copper and hypo at the same time (i looked that one up ha)
So the fish are holding up a lot better now
the levels are exactly at 1.009 today so hopefully the ick will start to clear up
as for the cycle of the tank it seems to be getting better
the tank is now going through the diatom cycle so lots of brown algae
I do reg water changes every two days now which seems to hold them ok
The hypo really did spead up their metabolism because they are STARVING
Hopefully things go smoothly from now on with the proper equipment

 

[jamiegrl]

Does anyone know how long it will take for ick to leave the fish in hypo?
they have been in hypo for 48 hours and to be honest the ick looks a little worse.... yesterday the ick was a bunch of tiny dots on the head of the fish
today the ick almost looks like there are peices of salt attached to him
the ick has to be gone by sunday!! or im going to face another crisis with another trip!!

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by peter1215
http:///forum/post/2596748
why cant you treat copper and hypo at the same time?
Copper is lethal to SW fish in hyposaline conditions.
Originally Posted by jamiegrl
http:///forum/post/2599748
Does anyone know how long it will take for ick to leave the fish in hypo?
they have been in hypo for 48 hours and to be honest the ick looks a little worse.... yesterday the ick was a bunch of tiny dots on the head of the fish
today the ick almost looks like there are peices of salt attached to him
the ick has to be gone by sunday!! or im going to face another crisis with another trip!!
It can take up to a week, but usually three or four days.

 

[jamiegrl]

all the ick spots have been gone for a few days
My wrasse was bit a few times so I have been feeding more often with more shelter.. the bite marks seemed to stop and the aggression decreased
BUT the fish have always been RAVENOUS when I feed
over the last 2 days they haven't been... the salinity is still 1.009 with no changes
the wrasse wont come to the surface to feed either
a few pellets fell to the floor of the tank and he ate them so at least i kno they are all eating but what could cause their decrease in appetite all of a sudden??
I did feed mysis with vitamins and fresh garlic and since then it seems a decrease in appetite...
They aren't breathing hard... they just seem lazy
any ideas or do i just have to wait and see?

 

[sepulatian]

How long ago did you add the extra shelter? Do the clowns still come up to eat? Have you checked your water readings?

 

[jamiegrl]

The clowns are still surfacing but they aren't ravenous like they used to be
the new shelter has been in for possibly 3 days?
I can check levels when i get home... Im at work

 

[jamiegrl]

OK im super worried right now
I checked the levels of the tank and they are:
0 ammonia, 0 nitrate, nitrite 1, pH 8.2, 0 phosphate, temp 79, and salinity 1.009
the wrasse is not swimming and just hanging on the bottom of the tank
Im doing a decent water change right now and while i was siphoning i tried to move him a little and he just scooted to another spot
he has no new bites from his tail, isn't breathing hard, doesn't look bad in any way
Im VERY nervous because i have NO IDEA what it could be
ANY ideas? ANYONE!

 

[sepulatian]

Sure, the nitrites are bothering them. Do the water change to dilute them. Do you have any Amquel plus? That will reduce the nitrites as well.

 

[jamiegrl]

yes i do... ive been adding it every 2-3 days when i do water changes
wow that bothered him fast!!!
he didn;t care when i had really high ammonia or nitrates
is this possible that just nitrites hurt him more than the others???

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by jamiegrl
http:///forum/post/2612271
yes i do... ive been adding it every 2-3 days when i do water changes
wow that bothered him fast!!!
he didn;t care when i had really high ammonia or nitrates
is this possible that just nitrites hurt him more than the others???
Some people say that nitrites are not harmful. I have had first hand experience that they most certainly can be to certain fish.

 

[jamiegrl]

this just stink thats there's nothing else I can do....
I did a 50% water change and added amquel plus
i can only hope that was the problem and things get better
.... i love that little fish....

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by jamiegrl
http:///forum/post/2612314
this just stink thats there's nothing else I can do....
I did a 50% water change and added amquel plus
i can only hope that was the problem and things get better
.... i love that little fish....
Nitrite isn't as toxic as ammonia. As long as you can keep it low, he should be fine.

 

[jamiegrl]

so it's been over an hour since the water change and things still look super dim... i know im not giving a lot of time but i was hoping for some change!
he is in his stressed position... fins close to his body, his little crest up, not moving, tail fin slightly curled but still breathing
i just dont understand it
i mean the only changes i did recently was add more shelter and give vitamin/garlic soaked mysis
I first thought the additional PVC shelter was poisonous but that not right cuz the new PVC comes from the other PVC pipe that was in the tank b4
I dont think it's the food. The fish has definately eaten the mysis before, and they have had garlic soaked mysis many times...
the only addition could be the vitamins but it was just kent zoe marine
It has the shelf-life of the bottle that states 4 years and no refrigeration required so that cant be it
if it was electrical then i would see a change in all the fish, correct?
should i remove the heater just for tonight to see if it changes or should i wait to see if the water change did the trick tomorrow??
i just dont know because i've had that heater for a while and never problems with the fish before
any other ideas? Im desperate!

 

[sepulatian]

Do you have a way to check for stray voltage? I don't think that it is the food or the PVC either. Stray voltage would cause clamped fins, but so would poor water quality. Do you have a different heater that you can use in place of the one that is in there? The temperature would drop too much without any heater at all. Did you check the nitrite reading after the change?

 

[jamiegrl]

No way to check voltage and no heater available
The nitrites were at .5 but i also used amquel so they wont test 0 but will detoxify them
maybe what i'll try tomorrow is if the wrasse is still doing poorly I might take out the heater and put the light on all day (which is super hot I had to stop putting the light on cuzs it was raising the tank temp) see if there is improvement without the heater
hopefully the little guy is better tomorrow but if not at least i'll have a plan
would doing another large water change tomorrow be too much?
it's only a 10 gallon tank and i did a 50%

 

[jshepherd]

Other things besides heaters will cause voltage. If not grounded do so immediately. It saved my clown that was on his death bed. Even if you could make a temp one out to the ground it will work until you can get a real one.