Hyposalinity Questions

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I hypoed 3 chromis and a clown in a 55g with a 20g wet-dry sump with bioballs and a salinity of 1.009, could never measure any ammonia or nitrite. I fed sparingliy once a day and after about a month had a nitrate reading about 30ppm. Just saying with that amount of water volume and relatively low bioload, that the biological filter stayed in place at that low of salinity to develop 30ppm nitrate without any measuarable ammonia or nitrite. ph was 8.2 to 8.3 with the addition of baking soda ( baked off) in the amount of about 1tsp every 5-6 days. Honestly, I was waiting for the ph to drop out to 7.8 or something with the ensuing ammonia spike that never came, so I guess i am left to assume that the relativley large water volume was key in the stabilty.
 
The assumption is incorrect. The biological filter was working. The larger water volume helps in the stabiity of the chemistries, but not in the function of the biological filter. Still, this is not to diimish the good fortune of your filter working! Good job!
 
Yep, thats what I said. The biofiltler stayed in place in my situation and the large water volume prob was key in stability of ph and dilution of any ammonia/nitrite to the point of not registering on my test kits...if it( biofilter) was comprimised at all by the hyposalinty. not sure how it would have worked out in a 10g with a sponge filter for example. also key was prob the wet/dry filter...and speaking of that I want to mention that I intentionaly use the wet dry filter for my treatment/qt tank so that when I do have to use chemical ammonia blockers it helps with oxyegenation of the water. amequel, prime,etc really suck the O2 out so to speak. they are not kidding when they say to maintain strong water movement/ surface agitation and to add these chemicals at the beggining of your light cycle (when plants give off o2 instead of use it).

I don't routinely use these chemicals in my salt systems but did at one time as an experiment. After learning that the seachem prime I was using as a water treatement with my water changes on my African Cichlid tanks was the cause of them gasping for air for several hours, even up to 12. The remedy was to add a large air pump and 3 foot bubbler that I use constantly now. prior to that I would have been the one that swore all you need is good water movement and surface aggitation and that bubblers were mostly for looks. Now I appreciate their effectiveness in helping with oxygenation.

The experiment was to add Prime to my reef tank when it was at that stage in its infancy that it was fowlr and still hovering around 5-10ppm nitrrates. I don't monitor o2 levels, but do monitor orp. The ORP immdediatly dropped to 179 and took several days to climb back up into the low 400's where it was originaly. Since ORP is directly dependant on the available oxygen I assumed that this said something about the o2 levels among many things I can not even begin to measure. Being curious I later tried the same with a amequel and the effect was even longer lasting to the tune of about 5 days! Both the amequel and Prime were added at recomended dosages. if I had to go by the effect on ORP alone I would say that the Amaquel was a much stronger chemical. just some fyi.
 
Okay so fish are in there. Woke up with yellow tang on side and most likely died while I am at work. Not sure why. I do use Prime. Could it be he suffocated to death. I have surface agitation from a canister filter. But I will add a bubbler when I get home. It's about 50 gallons of water. Could the oxygen be gone in two days?
 
Sorry about your tang! Too many variables to blame it solely on the prime, or at all. I would assume it was the ich really...weather or not you overdosed with prime or not, or underdoses even and it was a factor, who knows? I know that before I learned about the true affects of ammonia removing ( blocking) chemicals on oxygen levels I always overdosed...now the recommended dose is the MAX dose for me.

Your tang may have not liked the hypo even. But keep in mind that once the you actually see visible ich with the naked eye the ich cycle is prob well underway and the fish is in trouble. some see the signs...see a questionaable "white spot" and choose to ride it out and see what happens. 3-5 days later fish has even more spots....then they go away, and we ignorantly hope for the best. some can fight it off, but but most are doomed by the time they are covered in ich and really get our attention. There is no perfect treatment for ich. all are stressfull on the fish with most people aggreeing that hypo is the least, so you did the best you could.

don't give up!

You do know that you cant add any fish...and all fish should be removed from your display for 8 to 12 weeks depending on how certain you want to be that all ich has completed their lifecycle right?
 
Bummer. The hypo was most likely helping the fish quite a bit. In a hyposaline environment, the fish conserves a lot of energy. It is easier to process the salt water into fresh water and it is overall gentle on the fish.

Lack of oxygen is possible, but only likely if the fish couldn't get oxygen into/through its gills NOT because there wasn't enough oxygen in the water.

It's not unusual for a fish to expire in this manner. It can be that the fish just reached the end of its ability to handle the captive environment.

 
Ya tank is almost fish less. Still trying to trap the wrasse. No new fish will be added. I was going to add some snails to my clean up crew that way it will be "like QTing them". Is this okay to do?

I was also going to add about 10-20 lbs of clean dead rock to the display tank. Is this okay or will it create to much nitrate for the corals and such.

Thanks for all the advice! It's very appreciated.
 
It's an okay time to add invertebrates to the main system-DT. However, the 8 week fishless time clock starts over again from the day of the last addition. No short cuts. :)

 
HELP!!!!!

Flame angel is now breathing rapidly and he will not eat at all. He does not even try for the food.

What can I do to help him if anything? A Fresh Water Dip?

Please Help
 
There isn't a lot you can do at this point, if the condition is Marine Ich. If the fish was mis-diagnosed, then you've been treating the wrong disease. If the fish was far along in dealing with the parasite -- that is -- the parasite got too far before treatment began, there isn't a lot to do.

In a hyposaline water, a FW dip isn't going to do that much. I mean, when you think about it, the fish right now is almost in freshwater, right? If the sp. gr. is reading 1.008, then a FW dip won't help. If you think the fish has a different parasite, then a FW has about a 5% chance of helping it at this stage. If you choose to do it, follow the guidelines in the sticky post in this Forum, but only do the dip for 8 minutes,

Keep in mind that about the only thing hyposalinity will 'cure' is Marine Ich.

The rapid breathing and not eating is usually a sign of approaching death in general terms.
 
So I have been monitoring all parameters are checking out okay. The wrasse has not even found/slept in the sand I put in there for him. Most fish seem really stressed but I guess that is the nature of the beast.

The one question I have is about pH. I have been measuring pH and it is stable at 7.8 t0 8.0. I then measured my DT and it has the same pH. I am wondering if having a lower pH is harmful at all? I have had my tank for two years with no ill effects and have not buffered my DT at all.
 
Most hobbyists don't realize the importance pH is to a fish. Their entire metabolic processes are dependent upon the pH of their surrounding environment. These wild-caught fishes we keep come from a place of extreme pH stabiity, usually near 8.2. Some come from areas of a slight variation. Some, but not many come from coastal regions where pH and water quality shifts with every heavy rainfall.

Fish slowly die when their physiology is not working properly. A shift in pH as little as 0.1 is enough to kill some fishes. It looks like a small number to humans, but pH units are not linear, they are exponential (if these words don't make sense, you might want to look up on the Internet just what pH units measure).

Look through the post on, "What is Water Quality." Start properly balancing the chemicals in your water, slowly. Don't use buffers, just make sure the alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium are balanced. Once they are balanced, the water will buffer itself to the proper pH.

Good luck!

 
Well my Midas Blenny has taken a turn for the worse. He is now dead.

That is 200 dollars worth of fish in the freezer waiting to get buried.

I just dont get what to do.
 
I am tempted to just put the fish that are left (leapord wrasse, two clown fish and a watchman goby) back into the DT and use a reef safe treatment. It may not kill the Ich but whats the point in Hypo if all my fish die anyways.

Did a water change and the leapord wrasse is swimming erratically. He will most likely be next.

All the parameters check out fine. The only thing I can think of is a contaminant. Maybe from the tank I bought, the pump used? I have no idea.
 
So things are going great about 2 week into the treatment. I am having troubles keeping the pH stable and it seems like I am adding too much baking soda.

It is about 7.8-9 right now but I bring it up to 8.2 during the day but it falls again the next day. I am concerned about this fluctuation.

The fish are not eating very well right now. All other parameters are okay.
 
pH fluctuations are not good. Can you arrange a drip addition for the night?
 
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