PLEASE HELP....Fish in HYPO may be dying

[hogcr8]

Started HYPO a week ago last Saturday. The tank has been at 1.009 since the following Tuesday (9 days at 1.009). This past weekend I had an Ammo spike and had to use Ammo-Lock cause I couldn't get any Amquel. I have been following the directions on the Ammo-Lock and today it seems things have gone terribly down hill. There is a Copperbanded Butterfly and 2 fire fish in the QT. Up until today all fish had lots of spunk. Today the firefish were hiding under PVC and the butterfly was hiding in the PVC.
The butterfly is the whole reason I needed to HYPO. He had only 5 white spots on him and now all are gone except for one on the tail and it has gotten much smaller than it was. Just did a 25% water change but need some assistance on what to do next cause I think I only have a day or two until they are gone. Really want to start acclimating to DT but not sure if that is a good idea since he still has the one spot..........
Water:
Sal 1.009
Ammo 1.2 - Still reads that even with Ammo-Lock. (I understand that these readings may still be there due to what test kit is used).
Trates 0 - thought this was kinda strange but then again could be the Ammo-Lock.
Temp 78.5
PH was a little low so I added some buffer. Should read 8.2 by next test.
Trites Did a water change before testing.
PLEASE HELP - Don't want to lose these fish....
Thanks
Cory
BTW: I just added a cup of substrate from my DT with LOTS of BIO. God I hope it helps............

 

[beth]

Start doing water changes daily until you get that ammonia down. Add a couple cups of sand from your display into your QT to assist with seeding the QT.

 

[hogcr8]

How much water do I need to change out each day and am I better off using water from my DT and just cutting it with fresh RODI water to bring it to 1.009??????
It's a 20 gallon Xtra tall QT...........

 

[lesleybird]

Originally Posted by HogCr8
How much water do I need to change out each day and am I better off using water from my DT and just cutting it with fresh RODI water to bring it to 1.009??????
It's a 20 gallon Xtra tall QT...........
Yikes! Your display tank needs to be fishless for at least a month for the ich to die out that will be hatching out of the sand and rocks for the next few weeks. Water from your display tank will be full of the ich swimmers to reinfect your fish. Please read up on the saltwater ich life cycle.

 

[beth]

If the salinity of the water you add to the QT is off at all, then you'll have to start over with hypo. The key is to maintain a viable, well cycled quarantine and to prepare it prior to adding new fish to it.

 

[hogcr8]

The flushing sound you hear in one of the firefish. Went last night. I have been doing water changes on a regular basis keeping it at 1.009 but I can't get the Ammo down. It is now off the chart. I have been using Ammo-Lock cause that's all the LFS has in stock. Don't know if the reading I am getting is toxic Ammo or De-toxed Ammo due to the Ammo-Lock. Guess at this point I will just keep changing out water and hope for the best.

 

[sepulatian]

One of the problems with Ammo lock is that you cannot tell if it is working at all. The ammonia will still read on the test but it is supposed to be detoxified. I would not place too much trust in the product. How much water are you changing out? Do 50% changes if need be. What have you added to the tank for biological fitration? Unfortunately at this point you cannot add anything from the display to the QT tank because you will be reintroducing ich. Keep a lot of mixed water on hand.