Pickupman66's 180 gal Glass box - Update for July 2013

How long can they survive like that in that hypo state?

 

from what ive read, the fish can survive for quite some time with no ill effects. the parasite cannot for any length of time in certain stages. Inverts are not as lucky. shrimp, crabs, snails, corals and clams would likely be toast.

 

There went that thought

 

yea right! essentially what ive done is turned my entire system in to a QT so to speak. or at least filled it with QT style water without the meds. did a ton of reading and if anyone is considering this, make sure you have a REFRACTOMETER for measuring the salinity and that it is calibrated with Ro water. otherwise you could be incorrect and have disaster on hand. my hydrometer was about 3 or 4 points off. it shows 1.006 at this point. at 1.025 on it, my refracto read 1.030!

 

I just purchased mine off ebay for 23 dollars and no problems since. I will keep that in mind. will it affect corals too with that low hypo?

 

I would say so.
Marine Ich
Here is a good Hypo article.
ATJ's Marine Aquarium Site - Reference - Hyposalinity Treatment

do some googling. im guessing you are experiencing some crypto..irritans. ICH?

 

cool.... good job

 

well, everyone is still eating and happy. the Sohal is still itching occasionally on the sand but this is nowhere near the majority of what he does all day. other than the occasional itch, he is picking at the rocks and catching a ride on the current. The Naso however has become the pacer of the tank. constantly going fromone end to the other. his favorite place to swim is nose into the corner where the returns for the CL are.

Oh yea, we raised the water temp to 81* so as to increace the speed of the crypto life cycle.

 

An update for those who care....

Hypo is going great for all involved. the Sohal is barely showing any signs fo ICH and I havent seen him hit the sand all day!

I also did some tank upgrades today. I added a new intake in the sump that has now completely eliminated any bubbles in the DT! the foam block I was using was restricting the intake too much and was causing cavitation in teh pump. now, it is working perfectly! I can turn the pump up as much as I like and she does well now.

I also redid the standpipes in the overflows making them a bit taller than the ones that came with the tank. now the water drops about 2" rather than 6. this meant redoing the Hofer gurgle busters I made first. now they are spot on and other than the occasional trickle sound, the water is dead slient.

lastly I replaced the 3 CPU fans I had in the hood with a single rat trap style blower. it has an adjustable knob so I can speed it up or slow it down as I wish. it is 100% quieter than the 3 CPU fans were and puts out more air and will not collect dust near as badly.

I still avhe some water level tweaking to do in teh main tank as the waterline is about 3/4' from teh top of the tank. I have opened the lower overflow (yes, they were built uneven by 1/3") slightly and I tink we shoudl be in good shape. sometime here I will have to make a switch that kills the entire system if the tank level goes up as I dont have a backup drain. while I dont think I will have an issue with the hofer's getting clogged, there is no failsafe at this time. Ideally, I would like something that could trip the GFCI if the water gets to a certain level. ill have to think about it.

NO new photos to show of my handi work.

in the coming weeks ill be getting a place in teh sump to house some Cheato with a bit of light. Ill likely make this out of Eggcrate and sorta hang the chamber above the area where the pump intake is. For now, I have one of the Cheato balls in the DT where it will get some good light and the other in the skimmer chamber for now. The Naso seems like he wants to eat the Cheato, but the Sohal has only shown modest interest. that said, nothing of any length is allowed to grow on the rocks. the Sohal is very good at picking it apart.

lastly, raising the tank temp from 77 to 81 causes my chiller to work less in the afternoons even with the lights. seems that is a pretty happy temp for it. 81 has never bothered me as my old 75 ran 82-83 all summer long with no ill effects. as for dissolved oxygen, I think that the MR2 will handle adding plenty of air back in.

 

Good to here everything is going well. Your fish looked happy in the vid. No more bubbles in your DT! That is a accomplishment in itself. It can be very frustrating to have a bunch of bubbles in your tank, congrats.