quarantining with low salinity

[janakaybravo]

Did I understand that Terry recommends placing fish directly into 1.009 sp. gravity or 12-14 ppt salinity from whatever salinity level they are in?
If I quarantine fish this way, keeping the ph and temp the same as the bag they come in, the low salinity won't shock them? Also, if you don't know if they have ich or not, how long should they remain at the low salinity? Would it be the same as 40 days recommended for low salinity for ich?

Thanks for listening to all my questions.

 

[bradl.]

I havent read up on hyposalinity lately but common sense tells me dropping an animal into 1.09 directly from 1.25 is not gonna be good. You better do your homework on the subject.

 

[Anonymous]

Gradually lower the salinity over a 48 hour period IMO. Make sure you have an accurate way of determining salinity. Too low and you could damage the fish, too high and you don't accomplish anything. 40 days sounds like a long time. I'd think 3 weeks should do it but I'll defer to what Terry suggests.

 

[Anonymous]

Terry says to let the fish adjust to being in a new home for a few days, and then to gradually drop the s.g. about .05 every 12 hours.

 

[Terry B]

Hi all,

Actually what I suggested is to place the fish immediately into a salinity of 12 to 14ppt. After further research I have found that marine teleost fish can be expected to adapt quite readily to a quick drop in salinity. They do appear to need more time to adjust when raising the salinity again.

The critical parameters to match closely are pH and temperature. Acclimation to large changes in pH and temperature should take days rather than minutes or hours. Acclimating fish to captivity in hyposaline conditions helps them to recover from stress and to regain normal homeostasis more quickly. Hyposalinity is also a proactive approach to dealing with external parasites.

For more information, check out the November 2004 issue of Advanced Aquarist Online magazine for the article “Quarantine of Marine Fish (Teleost) Using Hyposalinity.” It talks about how hyposalinity is used by a public aquarium on all new marine teleost fish during quarantine.

You can try this link: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/index/

Terry B

 

[ChrisRD]

A more direct link to the article for those interested:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2004/short.htm

 

[Terry B]

Thanks for the assist ChrisRD. I looked for a direct link last night and found that the archives on the new location do not yet contain all the past articles.

Terry B

 

[Terry B]

For anyone wondering here is a link to the article that Jana was referring to in the first post of this thread:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2006/1/aafeature2

It is in the January 2006 issue of Advanced Aquarist Online magazine.

Terry B