Lowering Alk/ Raising Salinity

[JohnK]

Edit; question about nitrite deleted, I misread before.

Second (or third or fourth...) on the advice to just wait for some water to evaporate and just top off with saltwater until the SG gets to where you want it.

For the 15 Dkh reading? Are you sure of this, could there be a test error or something? Seems surprisingly high to me unless something was done to push it up that high. I'd double check that number if you haven't already. If you have double checked it, do you have any idea how it got up there?

Second (or third or fourth...) on the advice to QT the fish.

Personally I assume all incoming fish are carrying ICK or something. It's impossible for any LFS to properly QT fish, and fish are always coming and going. The potential for bringing in parisites is huge with any new fish. If the display is fully through the initial cycle (nitrite and ammonia at 0), you can always do another water change, and use the water you remove to fill the QT. You can also put some filter foam or mechanical filter media in the display for a few days to help import some bacteria into the QT.

For QT setup, as was said already - empty tank, PVC parts for hiding places. Airstone or simple power filter for circulation. Keep it simple, keep an eye on water quality, and have mixed and airated water change water on hand in case you see a water quality issue in the QT.

 

[smcnally]

Steve how can you be sure there is not mold building up under there? Are/were you able to life the carpet up?

I haven't pulled the carpet up...An 1800lb box-O-fish prevents me from doing that

FWIW though, I had worse spills when I had my 75gal and when I replaced my carpet there wasn't any mold. You really just need to soak as much up with towels as you can and then get fans on it until it all evaporates. Maybe the salt helps with the mold...I don't know...But it is almost dry now. I just felt the carpet and it is getting that crunchy "loaded with salt" feeling, so I'll have the carpet cleaners come sometime next week and suck it all up.

 

[TomD]

Steve, can you please never make me look that stupid again?

 

[MichaelJ]

I haven't pulled the carpet up...An 1800lb box-O-fish prevents me from doing that

FWIW though, I had worse spills when I had my 75gal and when I replaced my carpet there wasn't any mold. You really just need to soak as much up with towels as you can and then get fans on it until it all evaporates. Maybe the salt helps with the mold...I don't know...But it is almost dry now. I just felt the carpet and it is getting that crunchy "loaded with salt" feeling, so I'll have the carpet cleaners come sometime next week and suck it all up.

That's to funny! About the top part that is...

 

[MichaelJ]

Edit; question about nitrite deleted, I misread before.

Second (or third or fourth...) on the advice to just wait for some water to evaporate and just top off with saltwater until the SG gets to where you want it.

For the 15 Dkh reading? Are you sure of this, could there be a test error or something? Seems surprisingly high to me unless something was done to push it up that high. I'd double check that number if you haven't already. If you have double checked it, do you have any idea how it got up there?

Second (or third or fourth...) on the advice to QT the fish.

Personally I assume all incoming fish are carrying ICK or something. It's impossible for any LFS to properly QT fish, and fish are always coming and going. The potential for bringing in parisites is huge with any new fish. If the display is fully through the initial cycle (nitrite and ammonia at 0), you can always do another water change, and use the water you remove to fill the QT. You can also put some filter foam or mechanical filter media in the display for a few days to help import some bacteria into the QT.

For QT setup, as was said already - empty tank, PVC parts for hiding places. Airstone or simple power filter for circulation. Keep it simple, keep an eye on water quality, and have mixed and airated water change water on hand in case you see a water quality issue in the QT.

Nice advice on using the water change for the QT tank.... Thanks

 

[TomD]

Jim I was under the impression that water itself does not contain enough of the beneficial bacteria? If someone was to use tank water would they not have to still be worried about amonia if they were doing it 2+ weeks?

 

[TomD]

That's to funny! About the top part that is...

Ya Ya....That is not what I meant

 

[MichaelJ]

Jim I was under the impression that water itself does not contain enough of the beneficial bacteria? If someone was to use tank water would they not have to still be worried about amonia if they were doing it 2+ weeks?

You mean using the same water for two weeks?

 

[TomD]

Well even if you kept using tank water you would have to use a lot, therefore using more salt which is more expensive than a cheap sponge filter.

Jimmy has a lot more experience than me so I am looking forward to the answer.

 

[JohnK]

There will be some bacteria in the water, but I wouldn't count on it without monitoring water quaility.

What I was saying was to use the established water and import some bacteria via filter foam or whatever else may be handy. That and keep monitoring the water quality ("have mixed, airated water on hand").

"You mean using the same water for two weeks?"

I'd start the QT this way and do water changes as needed/if needed to maintain good conditions.

Personally I prefer to QT and actually do a hypo treatment on any new fish (there are a few fish that won't do well with this, but I just don't keep them) even if I don't see any problems. This translates into a 12 week process before anyone new goes into the display. Not everyone does this, but to me it's a whole lot easier than having to catch all my fish and then treat them all for that same 12 weeks.

At a minimum, I'd suggest more like a 4 week QT observation period to be safe. It's awfully easy to miss a couple of spots, then not have the next batch of spots show up before 2 weeks are up. Again, not everyone is so cautious....

 

[TomD]

Jimmy I know how I do mine, but for refrence what salinity are you doing hypo at?

I think hypo is a good idea imo, especially since it is usually lower coming from many LFS's anyway.

 

[JohnK]

When I do hypo I go for 1.007-1.008, and not any higher. Usually the reccomendation is to treat at 1.009, but if there is any variation (evaporation) the is likely some risk the treatment won't be %100 effective.

I've treated a whole tank of fish twice, and at least one individual fish at this level with no losses and no stress noted.

For the overall treatment,
I'll give it a week to acclimate to the QT (assuming that there isn't already a heavy infection), then drop the SG over 5-7 days. Treat for 7 weeks, then 10 days to bring the SG back to normal. Finally I'll observe post treatment, in the QT at normal SG for two weeks to be sure all is well.

For the transitions, it's much more important to bring the SG up slowly, and less critical to drop it slowly.