guitarfish
Member
How low can SG go before a fish croaks? It's obviously lower than 1.009. I was wondering what kind of threshold there is between a successful hypo and a dead fish.
How low can SG be and a fish survive?
- Thread starter guitarfish
- Start date
seaguru
Member
O.K. I have read about this on this forum... if you look thru Terry's posts he explains it in detail...
Do a search on osmoregulate or osmoregulation...
I am straining my memory but I believe below 1.008 you risk loosing the fish!
AND there is no need to go any lower than 1.009... I only did it in case my salinity reading had an error to the high side. I think (once again search to get the correct number) that for hypo to stop the reproduction of the ich tomant stage (after the parasite has dropped off the host fish to reproduce on the bottom or on any hard surface to which it has adhered) you only need 1.011. But I take it to 1.009 just in case my refractometer has that small error I mentioned! It is better to talk in terms of ppt (normal seawater is around 35 I think). The translation of 1.011 is about 14 ppt I think. (once again Terry B. has the exact numbers on threads on this sight... search for "ppt" or something...
I OWN ALMOST EVERY HYDROMETER MADE!!! DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY... GET A REFRACTOMETER RIGHT OFF THE BAT IF YOU INTEND TO DO EFFECTIVE/SUCCESSFUL HYPOSALINITY...
I have found that the popular Seatest swing needle one which I have calibrated against my refractometer readings are off by as much as .005! I still use my swing needle when mixing batchs of water change saltwater because I know how much to correct for, but they are useless for Hypo in my opinion. The life of your expensive investment (the fish) is at stake here! I currently work out of town and have forgotten to which direction the correction is applied but the error is far too great to use for Hypo.
Do a search on osmoregulate or osmoregulation...
I am straining my memory but I believe below 1.008 you risk loosing the fish!
AND there is no need to go any lower than 1.009... I only did it in case my salinity reading had an error to the high side. I think (once again search to get the correct number) that for hypo to stop the reproduction of the ich tomant stage (after the parasite has dropped off the host fish to reproduce on the bottom or on any hard surface to which it has adhered) you only need 1.011. But I take it to 1.009 just in case my refractometer has that small error I mentioned! It is better to talk in terms of ppt (normal seawater is around 35 I think). The translation of 1.011 is about 14 ppt I think. (once again Terry B. has the exact numbers on threads on this sight... search for "ppt" or something...
I OWN ALMOST EVERY HYDROMETER MADE!!! DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY... GET A REFRACTOMETER RIGHT OFF THE BAT IF YOU INTEND TO DO EFFECTIVE/SUCCESSFUL HYPOSALINITY...
I have found that the popular Seatest swing needle one which I have calibrated against my refractometer readings are off by as much as .005! I still use my swing needle when mixing batchs of water change saltwater because I know how much to correct for, but they are useless for Hypo in my opinion. The life of your expensive investment (the fish) is at stake here! I currently work out of town and have forgotten to which direction the correction is applied but the error is far too great to use for Hypo.
guitarfish
Member
Thanks for the reply Seaguru. I have a refractometer, and I dropped a yellow tang into hyp as of last night. When I came home tonight he wasn't eating, and he seemed to be breathing a little heavier than normal. I immediately thought maybe the SG is too low. So I checked the calibration on the refrac with some RO water at room temp, and I'll be DANGED it was off!! The fish was at about 1.0075 !! I brought him back up to 1.009. After an hour or so he did eat a little. It's sleepy time now, so we'll see how he is tomorrow. I felt terrible about this.
seaguru
Member
Don't worry too much about the heavy breathing... his gills may be saturated w/ parasites, etc. and they will have to run their course (do their damage) and then drop off say within the next 10-14 days... then after they have all dropped off they will not be able to reproduce from their tomant stage of life, this is where hypo stops them DEAD in their tracks... (at a salinity below 1.011 I think???... check Terry B.'s literature for sure.)
At that point you will witness visible improvement in ol' yellow's behavior. So for now don't expect INSTANT results nor expect him to eat normally.
To note, hypo does accelerate their metabolisms so you will eventually see a very active and often hungry fish towards the end of treatment (which should be minimum 3-4 weeks).
Good luck! and Bravo to you for taking the plunge into the best thing in the "Fish Medical World" since sliced bread in my opinion...
At that point you will witness visible improvement in ol' yellow's behavior. So for now don't expect INSTANT results nor expect him to eat normally.
To note, hypo does accelerate their metabolisms so you will eventually see a very active and often hungry fish towards the end of treatment (which should be minimum 3-4 weeks).
Good luck! and Bravo to you for taking the plunge into the best thing in the "Fish Medical World" since sliced bread in my opinion...
guitarfish
Member
Although I have successfully treated fish with hypo before, I'm sorry to say my tang perished. I'm not sure if it was because of something I did, or that he was through a lot in a short time. He was new at the LFS when I picked him up. He quickly developed turbellaria after got him home. The spots disappeared after 24hrs, but I don't know if that means the parasites actually left him or not. I went a little low on the hypo, too. Probably a combination of all this was too much for him. I'm pretty bummed about all this. :nope: I hate losing fish. I was surprised he died because he seemed to be doing fine.
Time to take a breather, clean out my QT tank, and maybe in a month try again. Thanks for your help everyone.
Time to take a breather, clean out my QT tank, and maybe in a month try again. Thanks for your help everyone.
