stupid hypo question

ozzfan84

Member
Hey guys, Im assuming that you can, but Im fairly new with the hyposalinity procedure. I have a tank that is infested with ick. I find that itd be much quicker and easier to just use hypo on the tank rather than put all of the animals in a small hospital tank. I have a zebra moray eel in the tank, and I was wondering if the procedure will be okay for the eel or if it will be to stressful etc. for him... Thanks in advance!
 

memnoch

Member
Hyposalinity is your best option so long as your setup does NOT contain any invertebrates or liverock, both of which would certainly suffer ill effects of the hyposalinity. If you have neither in your system this is the way to go. Slowly lower the specific gravity of your setup from 1.024-1.009 over a 48-72 hour period by adding fresh RO/DI or distilled water and maintain at this level for two weeks minimum. If you specific gravity creeps above the prescribed 1.009 it would be advisable to start the two week hyposalinity period over. Once the two weeks is over raise the specific gravity slowly back to 1.024 by adding saltwater made with either RO/DI or distilled water. Take it from someone with Ich experience, the medications available and freshwater dips are not advisable. Also try to determine what the cause of your ICH outbreak. Are you overstocked, poor water quality, etc... You will need a good hydrometer(one without a swing arm), pH, NO2, and NO3 test kits.
 

ozzfan84

Member
Thanks for the info. I do have liverock, but i decided to take it out of the tank and keep it in buckets with powerheads for the time being. Ive only used this procedure once before, and it worked miricles. Im hoping the same thing will happen this time. Thanks again!
 

jdl/dayton

Member
Hyposalinity or in laymen's terms lowering the salinity to deter parasites is the best way to go. The reason behind it is that Parasites such as Ich have a narrow band of salinity in which they can survive. Lower Salinity beyond this threshold and they will die. This process takes a while because the parasites are not vunerable till they "hatch" or whatever it is they do to become active. This means you must keep salinity down to 1.010 for several weeks AFTER your last visible sign of Ich.
Most fish can tolerate the low salinity just fine, but check with those who know to make sure. I know Eel's do not tolerate Hyposalinity well and I believe Lion's are not good candidates either.
 
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