Fish n' Frags
02-23-2009, 07:46 PM
I started Hypo treatment on all of my fish yesterday so i figured i'd document it here for others to see if they need it.
My Black Tang has had ich since November before i broke down my display tank but i took the "i'll just let it be" route. Well that definitely didn't work. I was tired of seeing all my fish covered in spots, than clear, than spots again. So with the Latz moving in i decided i better do something about it.
After a few PM's back and forth with David M, he gave me a lot of information on his QT protocol. I was tempted to jump in feet first with what he gave me but i had read so much on Hypo treatment being the more humane way (not to mention lots of successful cases) i decided to try this route first.
My fish list consists of
1 Black Tang
2 Yellow Tangs
1 Maculiceps Tang
1 Pair of Percula Clownfish
1 Pair of Latezonatus Clownfish
I put up a 50 gallon tank about a week ago and also had a 10 gallon here so i decided to setup both and put the Latz in a separate tank so the clowns wouldn't kill each other.
My setup consists of
50 Gallon Hospital
1 - 250W Heater
1 - Airstone
1 - Tunze Nanostream
1 - Sponge Filter (currently in main system sump to gain the beneficial bacteria)
Few pieces of large PVC piping.
1 - 54W T5 for lighting
10 Gallon Hospital
1 - 50W Heater
1 - Airstone
1 - Maxi Jet 1200
1 - Sponge Filter (currently in main system sump to gain the beneficial bacteria)
Large Clay Flower Pot
1 - 2" PVC Tee
1 - 18W PC for lighting.
I mixed up water for both tanks and set the SG to 1.010. Brought the temp of both tanks up to 80 deg F to speed up the life cycle of the parasite, and after Re-Reading Joyce Wilkersons Clownfishes, I felt comfortable taking the fish from the main display and adding them to Hypo tanks without acclimation. Sure enough within a few minutes they were just fine. I left the tanks this way for the first 24 hours and then emptied 50% of the water and vacuumed the uneaten food from the bottom of the tank. I then mixed up new water at 1.010 SG and added it to the tanks. I will do these 50% water changes daily for 14 days until i add the sponge filters to the tank. Than i will switch to 25% daily hoping that the sponge filters will help with reducing ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites reducing the need for the excess changes.
My main system will remain fallow for 2 months, or longer depending on how long the fish treatment takes.
My schedule will be as follows
-Monitor fish until i no longer see any cysts on the fish.
-Once i no longer am seeing spots i will start the clock and keep them in Hypo for 4 weeks. If at anytime i do see a spot, the time will reset.
-After 4 weeks of not seeing any noticable parasites gradually bring the salinity back up to my reef standard SG 1.026.
-Once at that salinity i will leave the fish in QT for another 4 weeks. This should allow more time to monitor the fish, and allow my main system to remain fallow long enough to rid the system of the parasite.
I will update if anything goes wrong, if i lose a fish, or if it just plain doesn't work. If i don't see a change after the first few weeks i will raise the SG and start copper treatment as an alternative.
My Black Tang has had ich since November before i broke down my display tank but i took the "i'll just let it be" route. Well that definitely didn't work. I was tired of seeing all my fish covered in spots, than clear, than spots again. So with the Latz moving in i decided i better do something about it.
After a few PM's back and forth with David M, he gave me a lot of information on his QT protocol. I was tempted to jump in feet first with what he gave me but i had read so much on Hypo treatment being the more humane way (not to mention lots of successful cases) i decided to try this route first.
My fish list consists of
1 Black Tang
2 Yellow Tangs
1 Maculiceps Tang
1 Pair of Percula Clownfish
1 Pair of Latezonatus Clownfish
I put up a 50 gallon tank about a week ago and also had a 10 gallon here so i decided to setup both and put the Latz in a separate tank so the clowns wouldn't kill each other.
My setup consists of
50 Gallon Hospital
1 - 250W Heater
1 - Airstone
1 - Tunze Nanostream
1 - Sponge Filter (currently in main system sump to gain the beneficial bacteria)
Few pieces of large PVC piping.
1 - 54W T5 for lighting
10 Gallon Hospital
1 - 50W Heater
1 - Airstone
1 - Maxi Jet 1200
1 - Sponge Filter (currently in main system sump to gain the beneficial bacteria)
Large Clay Flower Pot
1 - 2" PVC Tee
1 - 18W PC for lighting.
I mixed up water for both tanks and set the SG to 1.010. Brought the temp of both tanks up to 80 deg F to speed up the life cycle of the parasite, and after Re-Reading Joyce Wilkersons Clownfishes, I felt comfortable taking the fish from the main display and adding them to Hypo tanks without acclimation. Sure enough within a few minutes they were just fine. I left the tanks this way for the first 24 hours and then emptied 50% of the water and vacuumed the uneaten food from the bottom of the tank. I then mixed up new water at 1.010 SG and added it to the tanks. I will do these 50% water changes daily for 14 days until i add the sponge filters to the tank. Than i will switch to 25% daily hoping that the sponge filters will help with reducing ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites reducing the need for the excess changes.
My main system will remain fallow for 2 months, or longer depending on how long the fish treatment takes.
My schedule will be as follows
-Monitor fish until i no longer see any cysts on the fish.
-Once i no longer am seeing spots i will start the clock and keep them in Hypo for 4 weeks. If at anytime i do see a spot, the time will reset.
-After 4 weeks of not seeing any noticable parasites gradually bring the salinity back up to my reef standard SG 1.026.
-Once at that salinity i will leave the fish in QT for another 4 weeks. This should allow more time to monitor the fish, and allow my main system to remain fallow long enough to rid the system of the parasite.
I will update if anything goes wrong, if i lose a fish, or if it just plain doesn't work. If i don't see a change after the first few weeks i will raise the SG and start copper treatment as an alternative.