SG Issues - check levels at LFS

[richl]

I'm in the hobby 8 months and learnign a lot. I came across an interesting issue the other day. I just moved 2 fish to the DT after treating them for ick with hyposalinity. I had brought the SG in the QT up from 1.009 to 1.023 over a 10 day period. The DT was fallow for 7 weeks, so hopefully the Ick is long gone. So now I bought a new fish which I planned place in the QT. I have had bad luck with ick, so I want to hypo the new fish in QT which will take about 5-6 weeks in total. I had to first acclimate the new fish to my QT water, so I asked the guy at the LFS what SG the fish was at. He showed me that it was 1.018. This seemed surprisingly low, but he said they keep it low to avoid diseases. They keep their invert tanks at 1.023 - 1.025 because inverts need higher SG. Anyway, going from 1.018 to 1.023 seems like a big jump and the hypo info on this forum warns against increasing SG too quickly. So I adjusted the SG on the QT down to 1.018 before adding the new fish. I still did drip acclimation over 3 hours. This acclimates the new fish in a less stressful way and also gives me a little jump on the hypo process. Lesson learned is don't be afraid to ask your LFS to show you their water parameters. Does anyone know how low the SG can be safely kept for inverts like star fish, shrimpt, crabs, featherdusters, etc? Also, do you find a lesser incidence of disease by keeping the SG low? Any comments will be appreciated. Thanks

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by RichL
http:///forum/post/3030827
I'm in the hobby 8 months and learnign a lot. I came across an interesting issue the other day. I just moved 2 fish to the DT after treating them for ick with hyposalinity. I had brought the SG in the QT up from 1.009 to 1.023 over a 10 day period. The DT was fallow for 7 weeks, so hopefully the Ick is long gone. So now I bought a new fish which I planned place in the QT. I have had bad luck with ick, so I want to hypo the new fish in QT which will take about 5-6 weeks in total. I had to first acclimate the new fish to my QT water, so I asked the guy at the LFS what SG the fish was at. He showed me that it was 1.018. This seemed surprisingly low, but he said they keep it low to avoid diseases. They keep their invert tanks at 1.023 - 1.025 because inverts need higher SG. Anyway, going from 1.018 to 1.023 seems like a big jump and the hypo info on this forum warns against increasing SG too quickly. So I adjusted the SG on the QT down to 1.018 before adding the new fish. I still did drip acclimation over 3 hours. This acclimates the new fish in a less stressful way and also gives me a little jump on the hypo process. Lesson learned is don't be afraid to ask your LFS to show you their water parameters. Does anyone know how low the SG can be safely kept for inverts like star fish, shrimpt, crabs, featherdusters, etc? Also, do you find a lesser incidence of disease by keeping the SG low? Any comments will be appreciated. Thanks
Stores sometimes keep the SG that low so that ich does not show as much. Believe me, ich is still there but does not show as much on the fish so that they can sell them. Sensitive inverts, such as stars, should be at an SG of 1.025 to 1.026 anything less will cause them to go into shock. Stores don't notice it because it can take a month for a star to slowly die from this. I would only buy from there with extreme caution.

 

[richl]

Thanks. I was thinking of lowering the SG to make things more healthy for my fish, but I certainly don't want to kill off my 'critters'. Does an SG of 1.025 make fish more susceptable to ick, or does it just make the ick more visible? I'm wondering if I might have to make a choice between keeping fish and keeping inverts at some point. I'm trying hard to keep both. My DT has always been around 1.024 and the inverts have done great but I've had ick problems with fish. My fish did great in the QT during hypo. Would my chances of long term health be much better if I kept fish only at 1.018 and no inverts? How low can you go with Live Rock? I clean the cannister filter and do partial (10%) water changes every week. `I've got a good amount of powerheads. My parameters are 8.4, 0 nitrite and 0 ammonia, but my nitrates run 20-40 (overfeeding). I add Zoa to frozen food. Now QTing and hypoing all new arrivals. Anyway, trying my best but really need to get away from the frustration of dealing with ick. Any other tips will be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[hlcroghan]

Lower or higher sg is not necessarily healthier for fish. If you qt all your fish properly they will not have ich anymore so it will not be an issue. The reason you qt the fish is to kill the ich because it is an invert itself. You were correct in assuming that live rock also cannot be kept at a low sg. The things on the live rock are also inverts. Your critters are an important part of your eco system in your tank. Dont get rid of them. Just keep qting all new fish like you are and you should not have any problems!

The reason it was suggested to watch that LFS closely is because if they are keeping their tanks at 1.018 sg, then they are hiding ich rather than just killing it properly. They would be better off lowering it all the way so that the ich would just die, but then they would have to wait 6 weeks to sell the fish and wouldn't be able to make money as fast. Also if they are keeping their inverts at that range as well, I wouldn't be surprised if those are dying right after they sell them.

 

[nicetry]

There is no practical reason for a store (or hobbyist) to keep their tanks at less than NSW levels, other than to save on salt. Even lower salinities will not kill off most parasites. C. Irritans (ich) can thrive in salinities of 16 ppt. There is a reason why hyposalnity treatment dictates a salinity of 14 ppt (1.009 sg), and some rarer strains of ich are resistant to even this low level. Running multiple tanks like an lfs, would sure save money on salt mix, but for a store to claim that it is healthier for the fish is misleading.

 

[flower]

Keeping your water warmer than 80 will also help the fish fight off the parasite. However since you have cleared your tank of ich you shouldn't have anymore problems with it. Just QT any new arrivals.
It really sounds like you are doing a great job making sure of the health of your critters.

Happy reefing!