Angel in trouble!!

I am going to remove 2 gallons of water and then add 2 gallons of water with double the salt levels I would normally have. Its a 20 gallon tank. I think I have all ready lost this fish.......F*&K!!!!

 

I went directly from 1.25 to 1.01. There was no slow drop in salinity. I have read that is the best thing to do. So that is what I did. The fish were fine all day...but now appear to be in serious trouble! I dont know what to do other than raise the salinity some.

 

I've never done hypo myself, but did a lot of reading, which is why I can't exactly remember the rate of change, but dropping it all at once is not the correct procedure. Hydrometers can be accurate if used and maintained properly, but I would have at least checked it against a calibrated refractometer.

 

There has to be some acclimation time, like 2-3 days. Especially that big of a drop. Going back up takes a week or more, but dropping can be done quicker, like 2-3 days. Your fish may make it as going down in SG is much less stressful than the reverse. He is just stressed right now. Turn the lights off, maybe raise the SG by .002 or so, but no more. Do it by replacing a gallon of water with a gallon of normal SG water.

Good luck

 

He is still responsive when I started taking water out of the tank he got and swam a bit. So raise the salt levels with just 1 gallon instead of 2 gallons of double salinity? I am in the middle of preparing my water.

 

NORMAL salinity, double is too much. Like I said tho, he may be ok. You basically did a freshwater dip for an extended time. How long ha he been in this tank with the lowered SG?

 

24 hours now almost exactly. He and the damsel have been fine all day. Swimming around and such. But now even the damsel appears to be distressed. He isnt laying on his side right now just sitting near the bottom watching me. I have maintainted almost perfect ph etc since starting this. I just dont know what happened. I am adding 1 gallon of normal salinity water into the tank right now.

 

2 gallons of water removed....1 gallon of normal salinity added. crossing my fingers and turning off the lights in the room!

 

This is another thing to note. Try to keep some saltwater mixed for emergencies. Fresh mixed salt won't kill the fish, but it's not the best when they're already stressed. Not to mention your stress. I think we've all done the frantic salt mixing routine.

 

HAHA thank you for helping me feel like not so much of an idiot. I am just watching the tank now. Lights are all off in the room mostly. He is not laying on his side anymore just appears to be resting under the bubble stone in the water. Is there anything else I should do?????