need help with hyposalinity

[korgull]

i have an ich problem and i guess i need to do the hyposalinity procedure, and i need some help. is there an exact procedure on how to do this? i have an extra 10 gallon tank and a whisper filter that i had when i had a freshwater tank way back when... will this work? my blue tang is only about an inch and a half long. the ich comes and goes, so i want to get this taken care of. i cant really afford to go out and buy a new filter or pump right now so i hope that the whisper will work. also, i cant find a good hydrometer anywhere, i only have the swingarm type. is it that crucial to be at 1.009?
thanks

 

[carrie1429]

A 10 gal will work fine. You can use water from your main tank, or half the water from the main tank. Since you need to treat your fish pretty quickly you should use water from your main tank so it won't cycle.
The swing arm salt testers can be a little off sometimes but its better than nothing.
First you put the fish in the tank with the salinity regular. Do not have the salinity already lowered when adding the fish. It must be lowered slowly so the fish can adjust to it. After the fish is added do water changes with freshwater over a 48 hour time period so the fish can get used to the change. Your salinity has to be 1.009 or the ich may not die off as effectively. With an anaccurate salt tester that is hard to do.
After the salinity is lowered to 1.009 you need to keep an eye on your Ph level because the low salinity can make the Ph fluctuate a lot, if it is low then use a Ph buffer. While your fish are in hypo you can feed them garlic soaked foods, this helps prevent ich and build back their immune system because diseases like ich can make the immune system weak so the fish are able to catch other diseases. The salinty should stay at 1.009 for 2-3 weeks, longer if the ich is still visible. Do you have other fish in the tank? If so you need to treat them too because ich will infect all the fish. Once you are sure the ich is gone then you can slowly raise the salinity the same way you lowered it by doing water changes over a 48 hour period. Then keep the fish in the hospital tank for another 3 weeks to be sure that the fish are rid of the ich and that your main tank has no more ich. The ich in the main tank will take a month to 6 weeks for it to die off if there are no other fish hosts. In the meantime keep feeding your fish garlic soaked foods.

 

[korgull]

ok, thanks alot, i will try that. also, do i need to put live rock and live sand in there as well? or just water and fish.