Hypo Treatment In Main Tank

[obsessivelady]

Hi, I have a 155 gal with a lifegard filter & fluval 404. We had a uv sterilizer going, but broke the glass part that the light slides into. I will be replacing that soon. We also have a protein skimmer going. We have a niger trigger, dog face & damsel & they have been well. Tank has been going since May of this year. 3 weeks ago we added a percula clown, naso tang & yellow tang. Water has been at 79-80 & salinity at 1.021. 0 nitrite, 0 ammonia, 10 nitrates & ph at 7.9. Okay, I didn't quarantine the new comers & noticed a spot on the yellow tang a couple of days later. Noticed it scratching on some rocks. We started dropping the salinity to do hypo. I had the puffer & trigger in quarantine in the past for almost 3 months & am worried about putting them through that again so am treating in the main tank. We had live rock in, but not much & it seemed to have died off almost right away after the puffer & trigger moved in. So, I think its all dead or mostly. There is no inverts & I just want confirmation that this is okay to treat this way. Obviously it's taken over a week to drop the salinity & were still not all the way there, but looks like will be at 1.10 at the end of this evening. The fish are all eating well. The only one that looks bad is the puffer now. He is still eating, but he's definately not well & scratching on the bottom. His eyes are getting cloudy & he has the white spots on his fins. Looks like salt. Oh, the nitrite & ammonia is 0, & the nitrates are up to 15, ph is still at 7.9. Please advice. Oh I also am going to make up some food & soak it in garlic. I did that before & I believe it was a big part of there recovery. Anyways, Please let me hear your thoughts....and thank you.

 

[beth]

You're on the right track.
Soak the food in fresh garlic. Cut up the garlic in the same container that you are going to put the food in. I found that this is the best way to do it. Retain the juice from the moment you cut the clove.
You need to work on that pH. It should be up to 8.2. Right now it is too low and that could well be the stress you are seeing with the puffer. Hyposaline conditions causes pH to drop. However, we are still dealing with marine organisms who must maintain adequate pH. Use a Buffer and slowly slowly increase that pH.
What are you using to measure salinity?
Do you have any powerheads in the tank for water movement? [Besides the equiptment you mention?]
What food are you feeding your fish?
Secondary bacterial infections are common with ich so it may come down to needing to treat the puffer with an antibiotic. I would call around to your LFSs this weekend and see if any have Maracyn Two for Saltwater fish so you know where to get it if you end up needing to treat the puffer. Also, this would need to be done in a QT. You don't want to add antibiotics to the display.

 

[obsessivelady]

Hi Beth,
I feed them frozen & freeze dried krill, frozen brine & mysis as well as spirulina flakes for the tangs & & some staple granules for them & some pellets for carnivore's. The trigger loves these. I have some seabuffer for the ph but have never used it. And no we don't have any power heads in the tank although we have some. Thanks for the infBL

 

[obsessivelady]

I forgot, I have a refractometer. OBL

 

[beth]

Well, adjust the pH and see if the puffer picks up. If not, you may need to get him to a QT.