[DPatolia]

I have a 50 gallon fish only live rock tank that has been going wonderfully for the last 3 years. I did something stupid and forgot to clean out my 25 watt u.v. sterilizer and change the bulb when I was supposed to. My fish came down with some weird disease I haven’t seen before, its kind of like ick but much smaller, it looks tiny white sand got stuck all over the fish. I gave all the fish a freshwater dip with malachite green and changed the u.v. bulb at once. The disease wouldn’t go away so I decided to lower my salinity from 1.025 down to 1.020 in around 2 days. It’s been many days now and the fish are starting to get much weaker. The white spots are still there, even after a dip, they come back the next day. The u.v. sterilizer is not doing anything to them for some reason. I’ve had the tank going this way for the past 3 years very successfully, the only thing I’ve changed is the salinity; I can’t understand what is wrong? Also, when I checked my water parameters my Ammonia was .25ppm yet my nitrite was still 0ppm. How the heck did this happen? Ammonia now constantly stays in the tank with no trace of nitrite. I think I may of hurt my Ammonia-breaking-down-bacteria somehow, possibly the salinity change? What should I do? Please Help!

[Tervill]

Sorry to hear about your problems. Have you done a water change? There is a product on the market call Mela-fix. It is an all natura liquid with Melaluca (tea tree oil). It gets rid of bacterial infections in fish without harming any invertibrates.

[the_blue_tuna]

The amount you have reduced the salinity by is not enough to be effective for the killing of parasites. Here is a how to link for hypo salinity..... http://www.wetwebmedia.com/martrthyposalfaqs.htm Be advised though , any crustacheons ,worms , or other inverts will not survive a treatment like this. Also be sure to make changes slowly. Many people have also had success treating some parasites with garlic. If you do a search for it on the board you will find more specific details. Hope this helps and isnt to late .