Hospital tank hypo set up, does this sound good?

[fishfreek]

I noticed ick on the fish in my 45g reef yesterday. I have never tried hyposalinity before to treat for ick and just want to make sure i'm going about it the correct way. I have a 10g hospital tank i set up yesterday, i'm using a HOT magnum canister filter from my main tank for filtration. This morning in the hospital tank i put in a coral beauty, algea blennie and a false perc. I plan to slowly drop the sg to 1.009 over a two day peroid and also plan to feed all garlic soaked foods. Should i feed sparingly? I will contnue this for four weeks. I am going bare bottom tank with a dead piece of coral (from main tank) and a few pieces of pvc for hiding places. I plan to leave my main tank fishless, only inverts/corals and 35 pounds of live rock will be remaining. If i understand correctly, ick cannot survive in a tank without a host for 23-30 days. Is this correct? Will my main tank be ick free after this four week fishless period?
Any input will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,

 

[beth]

You got it Perfectly!

 

[fishfreek]

Beth, thanks for the approval! Read alot of back posts for info, just wanted to make sure. Should i feed once a day or every other in the hopital tank?
Thanks,

 

[beth]

Feed your fish as you normally do but not so much that food is being left behind. In the smaller tank, and a new hospital setup, uneaten food quickly becomes decaying food and pollution for the tank.

 

[fishfreek]

One last question. My coral beauty has some tearing on its tail. Is it okay to treat a hospital tank with a med like say melafix?
Thanks,

 

[beth]

Melafix is a natural type medication and won't do much harm, but maybe wait to see if the problem resolves once the ick treatment starts to benefit the fish.
If it gets worse, then lets talk again.

 

[fishfreek]

Well, i got my tank down to 1.009 last night and so far, so good. Although, i do notice a few spots on my coral beauty yet, but no scratching. How long will it be before i begin to see noticable results?
Thanks,

 

[beth]

As the ick cycle into the "free-swimming" stage of the disease, then they will be killed off. So it depends upon where the disease is at in their life cycle. I would say that once you see no more cysts on the fish, then the fish, at least, are mostly rid of the ick and certainly won't get new growths of ick. Remember, continue hypo for 3 weeks after all signs of ick have disappeared on your fish.

 

[fishfreek]

Thanks for all your help!!

 

[jimi]

Bob remember to watch your ph. As far as feeding, A little less would be better to be on the safe side. Even if the fish are consuming all the food it is still more waste they produce. Leave your tank bare for over 30 days is safer.

 

[beth]

Don't feed fish more than they can as jimi is right, the food will end up as decaying matter and pollute your hospital tank---the last thing you want.
However, fish in hyposalinity treatment tend to be more hungry. The hypo changes metabolic rates of fish. Additionally, you should be feeding garlic soaked food---a part of the therapy.

 

[fishfreek]

Hay guys, i've got another one for you. I've noticed my coral beauty sleeping on its side with its tail sort of curled up in the HT. Is this normal or should i be worried? Hes breathing and everything, just looks strange! In the main tank i never see him sleep, hes usually behind live rock at night.
Thanks,

 

[jimi]

If he is healthy otherwise and only when sleeping he should be ok. Some fish sleep in strange positions. I have seen my purple tang laying perfectly flat on the sand at night sleeping.