Bad case of ich...

[saltyfish922]

Unfortunately I lost my butterfly and the rest are soon to follow suit. I am trading my 90 for a 30 and considering reef. Way before an animal goes into the tank, I am going to make my self crazy with the facts. This time around I am going to take my time. I truly have a deep respect for the hobby and I took it for granted. Honestly, I feel it was placement of the tank. It is approx. 4 feet away from the sliding glass door. Hind site sure is 20/20. I don't know. I can't even get the LFS to take fishies to help them get better. (they do not have a qt set up yet)
I wanted to thank all of you for your help. I will still be around, just not full of parasitic questions!!!

[beamer]

Hi Terry_B!

I do use a refractometer. I was just going to lower it a little until I can break down the tank. I will have to put the fish in a couple of tubs. At that time I will probably do a fresh water dip and then start the hyposalinity and I guess cooper treatment. I will keep them in the tub for 4-6 wks. What difference does it make if I measure the salinity or the SG? My LR and inverts will stay in the tank and the parasite will have a chance to go through its cycle and die off.

Thanks for the link, I'm going to go read it right now.

Cindy

[beamer]

saltyfish, I'm so sorry to hear about your butterfly fish. You will enjoy your reef tank, but I bet it won't be long until you are ready for a larger tank again. You and I have certainly learned a good lesson here. QT everything!

Good luck with your new reef!
Cindy

[Craig Manoukian]

Way bummer Beth, give me a jingle if I can be of any help.

[Terry_B]

Hi Cindy

I am not a big fan of FW dips and they don’t do much for ich anyway except stress the fish. Do not combine hyposalinity with copper treatment. The pH tends to fall in hypo water and copper becomes more toxic as the pH falls. You need to check the pH daily when using hypo and buffer when needed.

A refractometer is more accurate and you should be reading the salinity not the specific gravity for the same reason. Besides, SG is influenced by water temperature and salinity is not. Most refractometers are mpt accurate enough, especially plastic swing-arm types.

HTH,
Terry B

[Craig Manoukian]

[quote author=Terry_B link=board=ASAP;num=1097154099;start=30#34 date=10/15/04 at 02:50:30]Most refractometers are mpt accurate enough, especially plastic swing-arm types. [/quote]

Terry did you mean hydrometers?

[beamer]

Thanks Terry, I will start reading the salinity.

Now I'm confused. I thought you had to use copper some where down the line to treat and kill the parasite, but you are saying hyposalinity will also kill the parasite totally. I thought that the hyposalinity helped the parasite to fall off so the fish would be more comfortable. But I guess from what I have read now as long as I'm reading salinity on my refractometer and not SG and get it down to around 14-16 ppt. Then this will kill the parasite? Right?

What is the propper way to start hyposalinity in a QT tank or in my case it will be a couple of 30 gl Rubbermaind QT tubs?

How long do you reccomend me leaving the fish in the QT tub. I've been hearing any where from 2-4-6 weeks. I don't want to leave them in any longer than I have to. There's just not much room around here for the tubs.

I enjoyed reading through your library. I haven't had a chance to read everything but I eventually will. I did read the article on Beta Glucan that I found very interesting. I know the others here will find it interesting as well.

Thanks for the advice,
Cindy

[Terry_B]

Hi Craig,
Yes I meant hydrometers not refractometers. My bad.

Cheers,
Terry B

[Craig Manoukian]