hyposalinity

[flamehawk]

Came back from biz trip to find that my semilavartus ( golden butterfly) had ich. Many of you know that this is quite an expensive fish and also very beautiful. I'm upset because this is the first outbreak I've had in two years and I'm not quite sure what caused it. The immediate thing is to try to save him although it looks too advanced. I immediately dipped him in fresh water and started treating w/ seacure copper. I know it will hurt the critters in the l/r and l/s but I really want to save the golden guy and also treat the others( majestic and coral beauty). After doing that I realized that I probably should try to minimize the critter loss and put the golden guy, after another dip, into a Q tank in @1.012.. Is this low enough salinity to cure ich? How long does he need to be in there at that level? Also now have hypo'd the main tank and am removing copper w/ large water change and carbo. How long at 1.012? Another ?- Can I use hypo and copper in the Q at the same time. Really need your help.
Another complexity, I'm going away on another biz trip and of course I can't expect for my wife to keep up thedilegence neessary?? She's kind enough to feed the fish while I'm gone. Any suggestions on how to pull this off??

 

[flamehawk]

I've had the semi. for over one year.
I realized after I added the copper to the main tank that it was a bad move. Too late now unfortunately. I'm already pretty much doing what you suggested. I've got it down to 1.09 in both the main and Q tank. The issue is that I can't really remove the other two fish form the main tank, will that be ok at least until I get back in two weeks? Is there anything else I can do to get the copper out of the L/R and L/S? I really wish I hadn't done that. I've done a 75% water change twice in main tank and fish are doing great at lower salinity. Also been measuring copper in main tank every two hours and so far no measurable trace. Am I on the right track. Thanks.

 

[flamehawk]

How long (duration) do I need to hypo the fish in both tanks?
I'm using floating needle but it has been calabrated w/ a tempeture sensitive hydro. The needle is actually pretty accurate.
Thanks for all your help. Am taking off to Mexico, Jamaica and PR over the next week and a halr for business. Better than India last week. Let's hope for the best while I'm gone. By the way it looks like he really wants to live. After the two fresh water dips, he's doing better and actually ate a bit. Will only feed him every other day to keep the amonia levels down while awey. My wife will be ok with putting in fresh water to keep salinity at certain level. Great!
Fingers crossed!
Julio