Hyposalinity messing up water parameters!

hingreef

Reefing newb
Treating ich in a hospital tank. Have just gotten hyposalinity water down to 1.009 & am having a few issues.

1) I have read you don't want a strong powerhead in the tank so the fish won't stress, but unless I have one in there, the levels are trying to skyrocket because the mechanical filter cannot pick up any of the detris in the bottom of the tank. Is it stressing the fish out having it in there, or can a hospital tank be alright with a strong powerhead? Its a koralia 750 in a 29gal tank. There are 3 chromis, 1 blue regal tang (1-2 inches), and 1 clown goby. The chromis seem to not notice anything is different lol, but the blue regal is almost always hiding it seems.

2) The hospital tank was setup from scratch, so I added an "aged" filter from the main tank into the hospital. The bio-filter I assume has stopped working because the level of salinity. Should I take that filter pad out since it could be holding nitrates, or will it ever adapt to this and start back, or will I have to continue to do 1-2 water changes/day? Can I use any of this "biological filter media" Choosing Your Biological Filter Material, or will this not work either with hyposalinity?

3) pH has been all over the place (7.8-8.4 changes semi dramatically over 1 day), I know this isn't good for the fish. The buffer stopped working, so I got baking soda & am not sure how much to add to raise it, also can baking soda lower pH too, or is it a buff + only?

4) The instructions I am following are very detailed except it is unclear to me of how long the fish need to stay in the hypo water? From what I think I understand is you watch the dots after the salinity is 1.009 & once they all go away, you keep them in hyposalinity water for 4 or 8 weeks? After that you SLOWLY raise salinity & keep them in regular salinity for 4 more weeks to make sure it is cured?
 
3) what is your pH without buffering it? And is it swinging without the buffer as well?

4) the reason hypo is 8 weeks long is because that's how long it takes for ich to complete its life cycle and die off in your DT. Once you get the HT back to normal salinity and the fish acclimated to it, you shouldn't have to wait another 4 weeks then are able to go back into the DT then.
 
Well I keep reading that during hyposalinity the pH will lower if you do not buff it. So I have added buffer almost with every water change, but the one time that I did not, it was 7.8
 
it won't stay at 7.8... not enough carbonates in the water with the salt being so low. Keep buffering, but monitor the pH regularly. Baking soda will certainly affect your pH... if you're using baked baking soda, and you add slowly, it won't effect it too badly... perhaps a slight increase. if you're using unbaked baking soda, you'll see a rather rapid drop in pH. here i an excellent article on the subject of alkalinity (and other additives) dosing: An Improved Do-it-Yourself Two-Part Calcium and Alkalinity Supplement System by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

and, the reef calculator to tell you how much to add: 'Reef Chemistry Calculator FV'

about the power head, the water needs to be kept flowing, or the oxygen levels will be FUBAR, and the fish will die. Personally, I'd go with a smallish power head for a 29 gallon-- maybe a koralia 2? medium flow is a good idea.

Personally, I don't keep aged filters in my hospital tanks. Monitor ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, and do appropriate water changes to minimize those parameters. you want 0 ammonia and nitrite but it's okay to have up to appx 20ppm nitrates.

I'd assume that the extra 4 weeks at normal salinity is just CYA thing. like BL said, the life cycle is only about 8 weeks long.
 
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