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?
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?