Please look over my QT/Hypo procedure

[eisaiasjr]

Hello:

I am in the process of setting up a QTank, after tons of reading on this forum I have come to the following conclusions, Please look over these and let me know if this will work.

I am going to setup a BioCube 14, it has about 20 pounds of LR an additional 10 lbs of live sand, a skimmer, and bioballs, all cycled.

NO CLEAUP CREW

I will keep salinity @ 1.009 for 8 weeks in order to eliminate most parasites (like Ich).

Then I will transfer the new fish to my DT.

Please let me know if I am missing something or if there is something I am doing wrong.

Regards,

Estefano

[Patrick12]

I would recommend that you keep the tank at normal salinity to start for 2 reasons: 1) easier to acclimate the new fish over and 2) you need to see if they are infected/infested. If you start out at hypo, they may have crypt but you not notice it until they are returned to normal salinity. The crypt will be weakened in the hypo water, but not absolutely killed. Then you go adding them to the DT with some tomonts still attached and you infest your tank. I am all for giving hypo a try to eradicate the parasites, but you should never institute a treatment until you are sure what you are treating. Additionally, if you do have crypt, hypo the QT and see it go away, you should then give the fish at least another 2 weeks after the hypo i normal water to make sure the parasites were indeed killed off. I like 4 weeks with no parasites before they hit my DT. Hope that helps. Just want to make sure you understand that hypo CAN kill off crypt, but that it doesn't necessarily and definitively kill it off every time.

[eisaiasjr]

Ok:

Just to make sure I understand this...

Keep the tank @ normal salinity for 2 weeks (may be extended to 4 weeks if they show no signs of illness)

If after 4 weeks they looks healthy, release them into DT, if not;

Gradually drop salinity to 1.009 (to acomodate acclimation over a period of 48 hours or so) and keep at this salinity for 4 weeks.

Once the 4 weeks have passed gradually raise salinity back to normal levels and keep fish in tank for an additional 2 weeks to make sure illness does not come back.

Does this make sence to everyone?

Regards,

Estefano

[Nanz]

I just finished this procedure in my tank. Please check this link out.

http://www.petsforum.com/personal/tr...osalinity.html

You will want to remove the sand and rock unless you dont care if the pods and/or inverts that live in there die because the hypo will kill them. Its best if you use a tank with nothing but pvc fittings for hidding places.

You have to keep them in Hypo for 4-6 weeks. I chose 6 weeks because I wanted to be sure the ich was gone. It was such a pain getting the fish out of the DT that I wanted to make sure they were cured before realeasing back into the tank.

[mflamb]

Remove sand and rock for several reasons. Hypo will kill a lot of life on/in the rock and sand. The die off along with the reduced biological filtration will cause ammonia spike. The ammonia spike will stress/possibly kill fish. Change water often in QT. Watch salinity carefully.

[eisaiasjr]

After reading more information on how to get this done, I have come to the following conclusions:

BioCube 14 (Fully cycled)

NO SAND, NO LR, NO CUC.

I will keep this tank running with the bioballs it has on the back as well as the skimmer and phosguard.

First 2 weeks I will keep the salinity @ normal levels, if fish do not show any sign of problems I will extend their stay an additional 2 weeks (4 total). If they dont show any illness then they are ready for my DT.

In the event that the fish show ich or any other illness during that period I will drop the salinity of the tank to 1.009 in period of 48 hours, I will keep this salinity for a total of 6 weeks.

After the 6 weeks of hypo salinity I will raise the salinity back to normal levels over a 48 hour period and I will keep the fish in there for an additional 4 weeks to see if the illness comes back, if it doesnt the fish is ready for my DT.

Important things to note:

I will use my refractometer to make sure I have accurate readings of the tank.
I will use my Auto Top Off system to maintain my salinity levels.
I will maintain temperatures of 78-80 degrees
When I do water changes I will make sure that the salinity of the new water matches the current salinity of the tank.
I will feed the fish 3 times per week and vaccum any excess food with a turkey baster

Oustanding questions:

How often do I need to perform water changes?
Am I missing something else?

Regards,

Estefano

[kevin2000]

My 02

You don't need to use hypo for six weeks .. 4 s/b adequate. 5-6 weeks is usually a benchmark to keep the show tank without fish to insure any ich within the show tank dies off ... but isn't a benchmark for the lenth of hypo.

I take about 4 days to raise my salinity back to normal .. suspect 48 hrs is too short. You can take salinity down pretty quick but the fish take longer to acclimate to increases in salinity.

I would recommend running a hypo QT whether you fish show signs of ich or not ... I don't think hypo has much downside and hypo is a std procedure used by many public aquariums now ... will help insure you have an ich free show tank.

[Nanz]

The only thing I would change is when you raise the salinity to 1.025 from 1.009 do it gradually over 7 days.

Try to keep the Temp and pH of the water your changing constant.

Don't use hypo on Mandarins, Wrasses, Sharks or Rays. I lost a wrasse this way in the final week of Hypo

Your skimmer might not work very well in hypo either. Mine didn't work well until I raised the salinity back to 1.025

I would test for NH3, NO2 daily at first and then possibly weekly and then change the water if detected.

Make sure you put some PVC fittings 1" or 2" in the bottom of the tank so they have a place to hide to reduce stress.

and most of all Good Luck