Hypo or Copper

Joe Fish

Joe Fish

Superstar Fish
#1
Apr 21, 2006
2,126
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Penn State
josy.isa-geek.com
#1
I would like to get everyones opinion on which method would work best. I have the refractometer and I have copper and lots of tests. I will be treating:

Firefish
Blenny
Clowns
Coral Beauty
Yellow Watchman Goby

I'm thinking hypo, but I want to make sure it will cure it. According to liveaquaria.com marine velvet is a bunch of white dots that looks like a dusting. They are a lot smaller than ich. This is what is kind of looks like, but I can't get him to look close enough to see for sure. It looks like it's covering the top front half of his body. Will hypo cure this? Will copper?
 

Joe Fish

Joe Fish

Superstar Fish
#3
Apr 21, 2006
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Penn State
josy.isa-geek.com
#3
I recall you telling me to use both before. I have read that this can cause the alk and ph to drop in the tank which will make the copper and ammonia more toxic. There fore I also got superbuffer to add to the water. Just how would I figure out the drop i'm getting so I know how much to adjust? I assume I would hypo it down over the recommended time then start the copper? Also, and it wouldn't happen to be ich that is causing my problem with the blenny( I cannot see any visiable sign on him but he scratches the bottom frequently ) and the coral beauty does have visiable white specs. Are blenny's ok with copper?
 

T

TheFool

Large Fish
#7
Apr 19, 2006
323
2
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#7
A lot of misinformation round hypo,..... First copper at the correct level is 100%, hypo at 1.010 is about 99% in my estimate - last year I had a fairy wrasse with a mild strain that hypo would not shift tho' it was far less virulent. However copper at an effective dose may well kill the Coral beauty so I would def try hypo first. Hypo at 1.016 is pretty ineffective against most strains of ich.
If you do drop the salinity it can be done over 24/36 hours, tho going up again will take a week. You need to watch alkalinity pH, though ammonia is LESS toxc at lower pH's.
There is plenty scientific work showing hypo is pretty effective - there is a link to the classic links in reefcentral in the fish diseseases forum
 

T

TheFool

Large Fish
#9
Apr 19, 2006
323
2
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#9
Umm, maybe every day or so for the first week till you get a gut feeling on how/if they're moving. Kh, pH fortunately are somewhat more reliable than many other tests. On the bright side with hypo you can do lots of water changes on the hypo tank for 1/2 the normal amount of salt used, to try to keep on top of water conditions. Do enough water changes and secondary buffering is fairly pointless.
Bear in mind that as you can only kill the free swimming stage with either of these cures it will take a few days for all the white dots (scabs effectively) to disappear.
 

Lorna

Lorna

Elite Fish
#12
Mar 3, 2005
3,082
4
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NE Indiana
#12
good luck Joe, sounds like a solid plan, I have heard only good things about hyposalinity and that raising the temp will speed up the stages possibly also. Besides with lower salinity a higher temp shouldn't pose any problems
 

Joe Fish

Joe Fish

Superstar Fish
#13
Apr 21, 2006
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Penn State
josy.isa-geek.com
#13
Well i'm trying only hypo right now. My clowns seemed to react a little stressed towards copper and it was barely at the correct level. So I did some water changes and put a carbon filter in. Currently my sg is 1.016. Tomorrow I move to 1.013. I did read that by raising the temp would make the fish use up more dissolved oxygen causing more stress. So I'm just going to keep it at the normal temps for 6 weeks. But I do have a powerhead with the air tube attachment running and it is putting a lot of bubbles in the tank. I am also well aireating the newly added water for at least 24 - 48 hours with another powerhead with the air tube connected. By sunday I will be at 1.009 then the duration starts.

Question, before I give it a test what will 1/2 cup of salt to 1 gallon of water give me salinity wise?
 

Lorna

Lorna

Elite Fish
#14
Mar 3, 2005
3,082
4
0
NE Indiana
#14
1/2 c salt per gallon usually give you approx 1.025 salinity. Though different brands are different.

Raising the temp at the above 1.025 salinity level will stress the fish and have them use more oxygen, yes. BUT as you are lowering the salinity level the demand for disolved oxygen is lessened and it should equal out as to stress......less demand/lower salinity.....so theoretically you can lower the salinity, raise the temp and not cause too much stress to the fish. I would really lean towards the hypo treatment without the copper as a first line ..... then resort to copper only as a last resort.
 

Joe Fish

Joe Fish

Superstar Fish
#15
Apr 21, 2006
2,126
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Penn State
josy.isa-geek.com
#15
That is what I'm going to do. No copper at all right now. Thanks for the info I won't worry about my temp so much now. Unless I see after 6 weeks there is still an issue. My blenny looks like he is ice skating across the bottom of the 15. I don't know if it's because he sees his reflection and gets cranky or what. I need to find the right salt mix to give my the 1.009 salinity. So for 5 gallons anyone know the amount of salt needed?
 

Lorna

Lorna

Elite Fish
#16
Mar 3, 2005
3,082
4
0
NE Indiana
#16
Try 1/2 cup then measure. Adjust it up or down if too low go up to 2/3 or high go down to 1/3....until you get it where you want it. trial and error. Are you using a swing or refractometer?
 

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