Ich paranoia-anyway to know without a doubt it is gone?

dmschiff

Member
I'm paranoid that I didn't perfectly complete hypo.
I started to lower salinity from 1.025 but stopped at 1.018 because my kids were sick & needed my attention. Anyhow I let it stay at 1.18 for about a week and then lowered it from1.018 to 1.09 over the next 48 hours. I have about another week of hypo before I bring the salinity back up. I believe that I maintained it at 1.09, but honestly those marks are soooo close. What if it increased to 1.010 for a day here or there. Is there still a possibility of ich returning? I've been lucky to keep ich out mf my DT far and really don't want to contaminate it.
Is there any tests available to determine if ich is present? If not, I believe the first to invent it will be rich!
Also, once the salinity is returned to normal, how long should I wait before placing the fish into the DT? Does he need a little time to adjust to the higher salinity before subjecting him to new tank mates?
Thanks!
 

al mc

Active Member
Originally Posted by dmschiff
http:///forum/post/2960824
I'm paranoid that I didn't perfectly complete hypo.
I started to lower salinity from 1.025 but stopped at 1.018 because my kids were sick & needed my attention. Anyhow I let it stay at 1.18 for about a week and then lowered it from1.018 to 1.09 over the next 48 hours. I have about another week of hypo before I bring the salinity back up. I believe that I maintained it at 1.09, but honestly those marks are soooo close. What if it increased to 1.010 for a day here or there. Is there still a possibility of ich returning? I've been lucky to keep ich out mf my DT far and really don't want to contaminate it.
Is there any tests available to determine if ich is present? If not, I believe the first to invent it will be rich!Sorry, no test available at this date. It would probably involve DNA test.
Also, once the salinity is returned to normal, how long should I wait before placing the fish into the DT? Does he need a little time to adjust to the higher salinity before subjecting him to new tank mates?No extra time but drip acclimate him to the new tank like you would with any new addition
Thanks!
Good luck
 

gmann1139

Active Member
Originally Posted by dmschiff
http:///forum/post/2960824
I'm paranoid that I didn't perfectly complete hypo.
I started to lower salinity from 1.025 but stopped at 1.018 because my kids were sick & needed my attention. Anyhow I let it stay at 1.18 for about a week and then lowered it from1.018 to 1.09 over the next 48 hours. I have about another week of hypo before I bring the salinity back up. I believe that I maintained it at 1.09, but honestly those marks are soooo close. What if it increased to 1.010 for a day here or there. Is there still a possibility of ich returning? I've been lucky to keep ich out mf my DT far and really don't want to contaminate it.
Is there any tests available to determine if ich is present? If not, I believe the first to invent it will be rich!
Also, once the salinity is returned to normal, how long should I wait before placing the fish into the DT? Does he need a little time to adjust to the higher salinity before subjecting him to new tank mates?
Thanks!
How long were you in full hypo? Assuming you went four weeks after hitting 1.009, you should be okay.
As far as reacclimation, I've always brought the salinity of the QT back up to fully salinity, then moved the fish. I don't know if hypo straight to DT is a great idea, as the drip to bring the salinity up high enough would take forever.
 

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by gmann1139
http:///forum/post/2961065
How long were you in full hypo? Assuming you went four weeks after hitting 1.009, you should be okay.
As far as reacclimation, I've always brought the salinity of the QT back up to fully salinity, then moved the fish. I don't know if hypo straight to DT is a great idea, as the drip to bring the salinity up high enough would take forever.
I bring the SG up in the QT first. If your hyposalinity was not effective then you will know when the SG rises. I have never had one go wrong, but it happens. People think that they watched the SG closely enough, when in fact they did not. It happens. Better to find out in the QT.
 

gmann1139

Active Member
Originally Posted by sepulatian
http:///forum/post/2961363
I bring the SG up in the QT first. If your hyposalinity was not effective then you will know when the SG rises. I have never had one go wrong, but it happens. People think that they watched the SG closely enough, when in fact they did not. It happens. Better to find out in the QT.
Good point.
How long do you wait between the time you hit 'normal' salinity, and when you dump into the DT?
I assume that if the salinity is brought up slowly enough (like .001/day) that ich would show itself before the salinity is at 1.026, right?
 

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by gmann1139
http:///forum/post/2961627
Good point.
How long do you wait between the time you hit 'normal' salinity, and when you dump into the DT?
I assume that if the salinity is brought up slowly enough (like .001/day) that ich would show itself before the salinity is at 1.026, right?
I usually wait at least a day before introducing the fish into the DT.
Ich will be able to reproduce when the SG reaches 1.010-1.011. Any parasites that are reproducing would show. Again, this does not happen often, and I have never personally had it happen. People have reported it on here, and it is usually right after they begin to raise the SG. Being that Ich needs the higher density water to be able to reproduce, it makes sense that the reproduction would occur as soon as it is possible for osmosis. If the density of the water is lower then osmosis cannot occur and the parasite is smothered within it's own protective casing, causing death.
 

al mc

Active Member
Hypo usually works for me. I use it for all new fish as part of my QT/introduction of new fish program. I did have one instance where I did my normal 3-4 week hypo procedure with a new Hippo tang and while bringing the salinity/SG up had Ich show up. Cupramine (copper) eliminated it. Was the failure mine or did I have a resistant Ich organism??? I still hypo all new fish and would only use copper products if the hypo fails.
 
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