sick heniochus in hypo(terry or beth)

[julie]

I've had my heniouchus in quarentine, after indication of ich in main tank. So, I moved them so quarentine and started hypo a week ago. They have been eating and doing great. I noticed yesterday morning the water was a little cloudy, but I didn't have time to see what might be wrong. I was on the way to work. Well, kids got sick last night and didn't even think about the tank. This morning I went down and 2 of the 3 heniouchus were laying on the ground, but still breathing. Then other one looks terrible. The dorsal fin is not as full and the color of the fish is bad. Where it used to be white is a faint black. Believe it or not, but it won't eat. I did do a pH test and the reading was 7.8, not real good. Could that be my problem? Also, on the sides of the fish, it seems as though there is blood on the surface. Any ideas?

 

[julie]

can you use marine buffer to increase the pH? If the fish are breathing hard and laying on the bottom, I'm assuming it is too late?

 

[julie]

how often should I be doing water changes while in hypo?

 

[julie]

is it too late to save the fish if they are laying on the bottom, but still breathing? I mean laying flat.

 

[julie]

The pH is now 8.3, temp 74 degrees, ammonia .25, nitrate 0,
nitrite 0. One fish gone, one almost there, & one fish getting closer to being gone. I have a 20 gallon quaretine and I did a 5 gallon water change. Also, my sg is 1.008.

 

[beth]

Raising pH when you have an ammonia problem is a bad idea, as higher pH results in toxifying the ammonia. You need to do water changes until you get that ammonia down to zero, while maintaining your pH. This could mean water changes 2x a day with aged water.
Was your QT uncycled?