ICH transmission ,URGENT

[jmcdona6]

Well, no treatment is ever really 100%, but if done correctly it usually works fine. Coppersafe is a bit more effective, but has its own drawbacks.
Most cases of ich coming back can be traced to new fish being added which were not properly quarantined.

Interested in your thoughts. I've always read that hypo is very effective but only if you keep your salinity at a very specific low level (1.009). Any lower and depending on the fish you can have issues. Much higher then you risk not being effective. The reason I have always stayed away from hypo is that most people QT in smaller tanks without proper ATO's. It always seemed to me like it would be a pain to keep it at therapeutic range...I mean doesn't take a lot of evaporation at smaller tank volumes to cause an increase in salinity.

Meanwhile, copper while having its own set of drawbacks has a pretty wide range of safe and therapeutic levels. You need a good tester and to be able to get the fish out of the display, but otherwise is a safer method...by safer I mean less likely for a novice to screw up.

To me hypo is a niche method. Either for copper sensitive fish or FOWLER displays. In most other cases copper makes more sense (but again not the only option).

 

[youclowntoomuch]

Well, no treatment is ever really 100%, but if done correctly it usually works fine. Coppersafe is a bit more effective, but has its own drawbacks.
Most cases of ich coming back can be traced to new fish being added which were not properly quarantined.

I really appreciate the advice

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Interested in your thoughts. I've always read that hypo is very effective but only if you keep your salinity at a very specific low level (1.009). Any lower and depending on the fish you can have issues. Much higher then you risk not being effective. The reason I have always stayed away from hypo is that most people QT in smaller tanks without proper ATO's. It always seemed to me like it would be a pain to keep it at therapeutic range...I mean doesn't take a lot of evaporation at smaller tank volumes to cause an increase in salinity.

Meanwhile, copper while having its own set of drawbacks has a pretty wide range of safe and therapeutic levels. You need a good tester and to be able to get the fish out of the display, but otherwise is a safer method...by safer I mean less likely for a novice to screw up.

To me hypo is a niche method. Either for copper sensitive fish or FOWLER displays. In most other cases copper makes more sense (but again not the only option).

In this case, the tradeoff was between contaminating rocks/sand with copper, or running hypo….so hypo makes more sense in that regard.

Hypo isn’t that difficult to maintain, tanks evaporate slow enough you don’t need an ATO. The trick is to be certain that you are measuring the salinity accurately from the start.

 

[youclowntoomuch]

In this case, the tradeoff was between contaminating rocks/sand with copper, or running hypo….so hypo makes more sense in that regard.

Hypo isn’t that difficult to maintain, tanks evaporate slow enough you don’t need an ATO. The trick is to be certain that you are measuring the salinity accurately from the start.

I have one of the accurate hydrometers.

 

[youclowntoomuch]

In this case, the tradeoff was between contaminating rocks/sand with copper, or running hypo….so hypo makes more sense in that regard.

Hypo isn’t that difficult to maintain, tanks evaporate slow enough you don’t need an ATO. The trick is to be certain that you are measuring the salinity accurately from the start.

I also have a tight lid. Evaporation is easy for me to control/ monitor.

 

[youclowntoomuch]

The spots look pretty large and oddly localized to be ich, but if this is a smaller gramma, it still could be. The flashing/scratching is often a sign of flukes. Now that the gramma has been exposed to the other fish, they will need to be treated (sorry!). I think you need a new LFS, grammas are very common fish disease carriers UNLESS this was a captive raised one that had never been mixed with wild fish (very unlikely).

Here is our current quarantine protocol:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/current-quarantine-protocol.825055/
Jay

Hello jay , ive been running hypo for almost 3 weeks now with the tank currently 1.010. About a week ago the tailspot blenny has become completely immobilized and hasn moved. The gramma hast eaten in 4 days and is becoming pale.Is this treatment killing my fish?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hello jay , ive been running hypo for almost 3 weeks now with the tank currently 1.010. About a week ago the tailspot blenny has become completely immobilized and hasn moved. The gramma hast eaten in 4 days and is becoming pale.Is this treatment killing my fish?

Not if it’s being done correctly.

But remember, hyposalinity only cures ich and flukes. Other diseases like velvet or bacterial issues are not treated.

1.010 isn’t quite low enough to treat ich. It is low enough to treat flukes though.

 

[youclowntoomuch]

Not if it’s being done correctly.

But remember, hyposalinity only cures ich and flukes. Other diseases like velvet or bacterial issues are not treated.

1.010 isn’t quite low enough to treat ich. It is low enough to treat flukes though.

Well I’m going to have to try something else…. Keeping the salinity right on 1.009 in the nano has proven very hard. Especially since I work longer shifts this time of year. Feeling defeated.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Well I’m going to have to try something else…. Keeping the salinity right on 1.009 in the nano has proven very hard. Especially since I work longer shifts this time of year. Feeling defeated.

Maintaining hypo is no different than maintaining a normal specific gravity, just at a lower level. I wonder if you're doing something that is making it harder than it needs to be? I have a 16 gallon AIO that I never have to adjust - I just top up with RO due to evaporation, and then adjust if needed when I do my quarterly water change. It's been up and running for three years and I only check the specific gravity once a quarter, before and after the water change.

What is the ammonia level? Are all other water parameters good?

 

[youclowntoomuch]

Maintaining hypo is no different than maintaining a normal specific gravity, just at a lower level. I wonder if you're doing something that is making it harder than it needs to be? I have a 16 gallon AIO that I never have to adjust - I just top up with RO due to evaporation, and then adjust if needed when I do my quarterly water change. It's been up and running for three years and I only check the specific gravity once a quarter, before and after the water change.

What is the ammonia level? Are all other water parameters good?

Everything else is good. Did a full round of tests yesterday.

 

[Dom]

Even if the fish has only been in the new tank for several days?

Several days is a long time where disease is concerned.

 

[youclowntoomuch]

Maintaining hypo is no different than maintaining a normal specific gravity, just at a lower level. I wonder if you're doing something that is making it harder than it needs to be? I have a 16 gallon AIO that I never have to adjust - I just top up with RO due to evaporation, and then adjust if needed when I do my quarterly water change. It's been up and running for three years and I only check the specific gravity once a quarter, before and after the water change.

What is the ammonia level? Are all other water parameters good?

Thinking I may completely break down the tank, get new rocks , sand , filter media. And totally restart. It’s only a 15 gallon

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Thinking I may completely break down the tank, get new rocks , sand , filter media. And totally restart. It’s only a 15 gallon

A complete "restart" can eliminate an active disease issue, but be aware that in acquiring new fish, without a comprehensive quarantine protocol in place can allow new issues to come back.

A fishless "fallow period" of 60 days can eliminate fish diseases, but allow the tank to continue running with just invertebrates present. Such a tank will be stabler than that seen in a total restart, but the same caution about quarantine would be present.

 

[youclowntoomuch]

A complete "restart" can eliminate an active disease issue, but be aware that in acquiring new fish, without a comprehensive quarantine protocol in place can allow new issues to come back.

A fishless "fallow period" of 60 days can eliminate fish diseases, but allow the tank to continue running with just invertebrates present. Such a tank will be stabler than that seen in a total restart, but the same caution about quarantine would be present.

Well the main issue is that I had an appropriate quarantine situation set up, but I was advised by the LFS that the royal gramma didn’t pose any issue as far as ich is concerned. I trusted them and now I’m dealing with a ongoing problem

 

[youclowntoomuch]

A complete "restart" can eliminate an active disease issue, but be aware that in acquiring new fish, without a comprehensive quarantine protocol in place can allow new issues to come back.

A fishless "fallow period" of 60 days can eliminate fish diseases, but allow the tank to continue running with just invertebrates present. Such a tank will be stabler than that seen in a total restart, but the same caution about quarantine would be present.

What is the soonest time frame that I could raise my tank from 1.010 back to 1.026?

 

[vetteguy53081]

What is the soonest time frame that I could raise my tank from 1.010 back to 1.026?

Would be after 30 days and you want to raise the salinity Very slowly. I recommend a good water change prior to raising the salinity

 

[Peair]

Bought a royal gramma this past weekend. Was told by my LFS that gramma do not need quarantine. Introduced the fish to the tank and it was completely free and clear of any visible health issues. A little skittish but otherwise hungry and coming out to eat. 24 hours ago I noticed 2 spots on its tail fin, today I noticed 3-5 other small white spots with one being closer to the gills and 2-3 being on the dorsal. I went and bought a quarantine tank to handle this problem. Does anyone have any links to good literature/ posts on how to handle this the right way? Everything I seem to read tells a different story. I hate to be the guy asking questions that have already been answered but I’m feeling confused by the sheer amount of people saying different things.
Also will I have to remove all fish? Since the new one has just started showing does that mean that the ick hasn’t settled into the substrate? Thanks in advance

The disease might have been in your tank already from passed fish, if you can, I think it's best to remove all fish into quarantine for about a month.

 

[youclowntoomuch]

Would be after 30 days and you want to raise the salinity Very slowly. I recommend a good water change prior to raising the salinity

Time frame?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Time frame?

You can raise one point daily

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

What is the soonest time frame that I could raise my tank from 1.010 back to 1.026?

Hyposalinity is best at 1.009. I would take five days, with two raises per day to get back up to 1.026. About .0035 SG units per day.