Hypo salinity in DT

Dvir · Apr 23, 2024

Hi,

Display tank is fish only, thinking of going hypo to fight flukes.
Tank is 1.5 year old and all rocks have algae that the tangs (and angelfish) enjoy grazing on. I'm not sure which type of algae it is but it is quite short, less than 0.5". I don't mind it as it serves as food and is barely noticeable when looking at the tank.

Params:
Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate - 0
Phosphate - 0.05

Two concerns that I have with going hypo:
1) Current bio filter is very good. Will going hypo hurt it?
2) Will the algae die off in hypo? and risk raising ammonia in the tank?

Also, how long should I stay in hypo if flukes is the target?

Thanks

Jay Hemdal · Apr 23, 2024

Dvir Welcome to the Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis Forum!

The #fishmedic team and other knowledgeable members of our community will do our best to help you resolve your questions. Please provide as much of the following as you are able:

Brief description of the issue you are observing and answers to the following questions:
- How long have you had the fish with the condition?
- Did you quarantine with medication when you first acquired the fish? (If Yes, which medication?)
Current water quality measurements
Clear photos of the issue taken using WHITE light and/or a short video of any behaviors (post in your response or on YouTube).

If you can help us by providing as much of the above info as possible, it will make diagnosing and providing recommendations for treatment MUCH easier! The Fish Medic team will get back to you as quickly as possible. In the meantime, other members of our community may also share their experience with similar situations and advice that they may have regarding your situation.

You may also feel free to provide a more detailed description of the condition if you wish to share more info than the above list.

Additionally, these links may be useful while you await a response:

Jay Hemdal · Apr 23, 2024

Dvir said:
Hi,

Display tank is fish only, thinking of going hypo to fight flukes.
Tank is 1.5 year old and all rocks have algae that the tangs (and angelfish) enjoy grazing on. I'm not sure which type of algae it is but it is quite short, less than 0.5". I don't mind it as it serves as food and is barely noticeable when looking at the tank.

Params:
Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate - 0
Phosphate - 0.05

Two concerns that I have with going hypo:
1) Current bio filter is very good. Will going hypo hurt it?
2) Will the algae die off in hypo? and risk raising ammonia in the tank?

Also, how long should I stay in hypo if flukes is the target?

Thanks

Your biofilter will be slightly affected, and the algae may die off, so test the ammonia as you go.

For flukes, you don’t need to go as low as you would for ich, so a specific gravity of 1.012 for 30 days will work.

Dvir · Apr 24, 2024

Jay Hemdal said:
Your biofilter will be slightly affected, and the algae may die off, so test the ammonia as you go.

For flukes, you don’t need to go as low as you would for ich, so a specific gravity of 1.012 for 30 days will work.

I found another post on this forum mentioning that egg hatching was prevented after 5 days of treatment. It's from 9 years ago though :/ so wondering what knowledge has changed since then?

Dvir · Apr 24, 2024

Also, I use tropic marin hydromator to measure salinity, I trust it the most. But.. it only measures down to 1.021 sg.

Since the precision is crucial for this treatment, what are the recommended meters to measure at the hypo level?

Jay Hemdal · Apr 24, 2024

Dvir said:
I found another post on this forum mentioning that egg hatching was prevented after 5 days of treatment. It's from 9 years ago though :/ so wondering what knowledge has changed since then?

Hyposalinity doesn't kill fluke eggs, but keeps the larva from hatching and attacking the fish. I use the 30 days to ensure that all of the eggs have died without reinfecting the fish. There is perhaps a 10 day safety factor built into that time. Five days is too short.

Jay

Dvir · Monday at 12:36 PM

Meanwhile it looks like it has either been ich all along or ich is also having an outbreak (pics attached for confirmation).

Tank reached salinity of 1.009 sg after a few days. I have a red sea refractometer, hanna salinity checker and tropic marin hydrometer. I compared the refractometer to tropic marin hydrometer (which is considered most accurate) and it was showing identical results, at leat down to 1.021 which is the lowest the hydrometer can go. Hanna was consistently showing 0.001 less than the other too. So now the refractometer is showing 1.009 and hanna is showing 1.008. This seems like a good stop point?

Fish behavior is looking much better now, they're hardly scratching, eating well and swimming pretty normally. However, they're loaded with white spots, fully covered with them, much more than is visible in the pictures. When should I expect the white spots to go away?

Thanks