Hyposalinty question

[goodtimes2]

I have a purple tang and a wrasse that is in my QT tank with ick. I know it is best to have a clean tank bottom, but I have a small plastic dish with sand that the wrasse uses when he sleep at night , will this defeat my treatment for ick ?

[an411]

I don't think so because in the display tank there is sand. My knowledge is that ick needs a host and that host is a fish. and the reason that you don't do hyposalinity in the DT is that your cleanup crew and corals and LR can't withstand the low salt levels. HTH

[Patrick12]

It won't "hurt" anything. The only issue is that there are some research studies...done mostly with maricultured Atlantic species...that show a smooth surface decreased the tomites ability to find a suitable place to encyst and therefore reduced the infestation. Sand will not harm hypo treatment. I have used it with LR and substrate in a QT and had no issues with it's effectiveness. The most important thing is to keep the spg at 1.009 for at least 4 weeks at 80F. Anything less....MIGHT work, but runs the risk of being too short in relation to the parasite's lifecycle. Good Luck!!.

[indydog1]

+1 patrick12 said it all. just start your 4 week count down after you see the last piece of ich fall off the fish. if you see it back on the fish, you must wait for it to fall off and start your count over again. good luck and this should work for you if you are precise, and patient.

[goodtimes2]

Thanks