crypto questions.

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ram303

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Nov 17, 2007
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Hi there every one well as you may have guessed i still have crypto questions. i have started lowering the salinity in my tank, to try the hyper salinity teckniqe Going to lower it to 1.10 over the next few days. but i was wondering, my powder blue is looking really bad at night. and he isnt eating to well. so i was going to give a fw dip a shot.
I have filled a 5 gal tank with ro water and let it settle to equalise the temps. the ph of both tanks are totally differant, but i would expect this to be the case. do i need to equalize the ph of the fw dip tank and how would i do this, do i just use marine buffer to do this.
also my orange blotched surgon fish is starting to show spots. will the hypo salinity take long to affect the crypto. how long till i should start to see improvments.
added to all this iv had another outbrake of dynoflaganant (red tide) so im doing a huge vacume and clean tomorow. I will use this oppertunity to lower the sg a little more.
AHHHH i love salt water tanks, what a challange lol.....
Ram..........
any help or advise would be greatley appreciated....
 

Amphiprion

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Feb 14, 2007
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How long have you been taking to lower the salinity? You can do it in a matter of a few days (you must raise it more slowly, however). Regular buffer or baking soda can be used to raise the pH--just be careful. FWIW, a FW dip won't really be able to get rid of the ich. The parasite is usually embedded in the skin enough to have a good deal of defense against a FW dip. It isn't really doing to do more than stress the fish out. There are other occasions where a FW dip iwll sork wonders, but this isn't one of them. Just keep moving toward hyposalinity.
 

ram303

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thanks Amphiprion i wont do the fw dip then. would the 5 gal tank be ok for a hospital tank. would somthing like melafix help Im not sure what our lfs around here stock for crypto they mostly deal with fw fish stuff. is there anything for fw that would work for salt. my powder blue tang seems to be infested and slowly seems to be going down hill and now my other fish are developing the crypto. aswell .
how much can a fish take befor it kicks the bucket.
 

Amphiprion

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Feb 14, 2007
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Melafix won't do anything in this case (nor have I ever noticed it to work in SW). Like I said, go ahead and get your quarantine tank down to 1.009 specific gravity and acclimate the tang to it. FWIW, something significantly larger than 5 gallons will be necessary. That is often how fish die in quarantine--from too small of a volume. Think of it this way: Would you keep a powder blue tang normally in a 5 gallon tank? To that end, I would look into a larger container. Something like a rubbermaid tub would work just fine for what you are doing and would give plenty of water volume. I'd shoot for around 30g or more, depending upon how many fish you are treating.
 

Ace25

www.centralcoastreefclub. com
Oct 3, 2005
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JMO, but I think of Melafix like I think of garlic. While it isn't a "cure" for really anything, IMO it does seem to boost their immune system in certain cases. Personally I throw in a little Melafix and Pimafix into my display tank once or twice a year when I spot minor problems with certain fish and to this day I have never lost a fish due to sickness since observing more closely and reacting/treating ASAP. I do treat my tank within hours of spotting problems though, and they are minor problems, small scratches, nipped fin, popeye on one side.. things like that. The fish would probably recover fine without the addition of Melafix/Pimafix but probably take a couple days longer. I can't say with any certainty that those meds are actually helping, just one of those things that everytime I use it my fish get better quicker... so just from observation I will continue to use both myself on certain problems. If I had a fish covered with crypto, then no, I really don't think the meds would help at that point.

You are walking a fine line right now though.. your thoughts that you have written out seem like you may "love your fish to death", which I am sure many of us are guilty of at some point. Just stick with one method, ie, the hypo treatment and monitor closely. The more variables you throw into the mix the more likely your going to stress your fish out which will cause the opposite of what your trying to accomplish. IMO a 5G hospital tank will do much more harm than good on a tang, that size tank will make a tang of any size stress out to much. 30G would also be my minimum recommendation for a tang hospital tank, 55G would be more ideal.
 

ram303

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Nov 17, 2007
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thanks guys for all the help...i will just continue to lower tha sg in my tank and keep it at 1.010for 6-8 weeks and see how things go....
how will this afect things like my nems amd corals. i have a small grape coral, med open brain and several small inverts. feather dusters and chrismastree worms.
 

Amphiprion

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Feb 14, 2007
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thanks guys for all the help...i will just continue to lower tha sg in my tank and keep it at 1.010for 6-8 weeks and see how things go....
how will this afect things like my nems amd corals. i have a small grape coral, med open brain and several small inverts. feather dusters and chrismastree worms.

It will kill them, as well as the live rock, etc. When you said you were lowering your SG, I thought you were referring to the quarantine, which is why I was wondering what was taking you. You have to use a quarantine to do this.
 

ram303

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Nov 17, 2007
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Ahhh ok then this just got a whole lot more complicated. So i need a hospital tank, looking now for somthing sutable. how about a 44gal drum with the top cut of. lol i dont like the sound of that though. this could take me a while.
also how do i treat my diplay tank then wont i just reinfect any fish i put back in it.
with the settup of the hospital tank wouldnt i need to cycle it first.
how long do i have befor my fish start to die....
 

ram303

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Nov 17, 2007
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darwin australia
Ok after much serching i canot find a tank big enough to start a hospital tank
as well as the fact that other fish are showing sighns of white spot. i have decided to treat the whole tank. i found a product called Vertonex Has anyone here used this product or now much about it i was considering puting my nems and some corals into my preditory tank while i do this treatment or would that just spred it around the last thing i want is my brown morey geting it.... Quinine Hydrochloride/Malachite Green
Quinine Hydrochloride is the latest antiprotozoal treatment in the fight against Marine Whitespot C. irritans, moreover it's not so harsh as Copper treatments.
Made in Australia!

To assist in the treatment of white spot (cryptocaryon irritans) when corals and invertebrates are present in marine aquarium fish. Vertonex can be used safely with invertebrates and corals present in the aquarium.

* Use 3mL per 70 Litres of aquarium water daily for 4 days. A major water change is recommended approximately 14 days after the treatment was initiated.
Note that corals and anemones may withdraw during treatment. Some Centropyge angels are sensitive to treatment also, with Bivalves (e.g. clams & mussels) should be removed during treatment. To maximise results, halve the daily dose rate, adding it to the tank twice (morning and night).

250 and 1000 mL bottles also available upon request.
 
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Ace25

www.centralcoastreefclub. com
Oct 3, 2005
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I haven't heard of that brand myself but just last night I was on Reefcentral and people were talking about "Ick Attack" and a bunch of people where chiming in stating how well it works. Personally I think the people are crazy because the bottle says something like "Kills Ich fast in both Freshwater and Saltwater".. well, they are not the same thing in FW/SW so how could a medicine kill both?

Still, I don't think it could hurt to try that medicine you posted.. just don't expect too much, but if it does work I would definately like to hear about it. One of these days there is going to be a medicine that actually does what it says against crypto, maybe this is it.
 
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