Reef Discussion
Not sure I totally agree with this Matt ;).
I researched freshwater dipping a few months ago when my yellow tang developed black itch and actually purchased the necessary bowls etc but couldn't catch my tang to complete the treatment.
It is considered relatively safe for most fish providing the water parameters are adjusted to reflect the tank water and can kill a number of external parasites.
Does it put unwarranted additional stress on new fish which are already stressed? Maybe, but that might still be better than having a subsequent disease outbreak.
For every article/forum post that says it is a good idea there will be another one which says it is unwarranted :confused:I think it is up to each person to do their research and plan their own quarantine procedures.
Just my thoughts.
freshwater dipping is something I would only use if the fish was infected with disease or parasite. it can be a good tool to use if you dont have a QT tank.
I wouldnt dip in freshwater before adding it to the tank though, as Matt has said it can cause death very quickly.
the theory behind it is from nature where salt water fish (sharks commonly do this) where they are infected with SW lice/parasites will swim up river to get rid of these parasites. it makes them drop off the shark as the parasites can handle the fresh water or low salt water area like in land estuaries.
so in saying this I would recommend a QT tank and using the right meds, after correct ID off what is going on with the fish. fresh water dipping would be a last resort to me, especially with the technology and information we have today. older dr. axelrod books do put fresh water dipping as a good remedy for infection/parasites.
he also reccomends using proper treatments first though. at my brothers shop when he had it, we had a volitans lion fish and it wasnt looking to good, he tried the freshwater dipping method and it seemed to work as when the fish went back into salt water it seemed happy. it ended up dying a week or so later due to a parasite that the fresh water dip didn't get. and he didn't want to use meds on it thinking that could be worse.
if you do go with the freshwater dipping for a remedy, watch the fish closely, try and have matured fresh water for this (matured like out of a freshwater tank) as water straight from the tap would probably kill the fish in a very short space. dipping requires the fish to be in the water for anywhere from a couple of minutes to ten minutes, if your fish shows any signs of discomfort and stress, starts thrashing etc. get it out and back in the SW. the stress of the freshwater dip could be more detrimental to the fish then an infection or parasites.
so no, freshwater dipping before acclimatisation is definately NOT reccommended. by all means acclimatise the fish to your setup when you get home over a decent amount of time, there was a good technique posted by Majic about a drip method for this.
here - http://www.thereefuge.com/threads/starfish.276/#post-3626
otherwise floating the bag in the water for at least half an hour or so, then what I do is slowly add more water from the tank to the bag every 5 minutes. once around another half hour or so has gone after adding the water, then I just do a quick thermometor check (I have a digital thermo that is very accurate) to make sure the water is pretty much the same temp, a quick ph check aswell as PH shock can be detrimental aswell and if everything is all good and pretty much the same then the fish is released.
some others do this differently but I have found this method to be pretty successful so far. and if it works stick with it ;)
I wouldnt dip in freshwater before adding it to the tank though, as Matt has said it can cause death very quickly.
the theory behind it is from nature where salt water fish (sharks commonly do this) where they are infected with SW lice/parasites will swim up river to get rid of these parasites. it makes them drop off the shark as the parasites can handle the fresh water or low salt water area like in land estuaries.
so in saying this I would recommend a QT tank and using the right meds, after correct ID off what is going on with the fish. fresh water dipping would be a last resort to me, especially with the technology and information we have today. older dr. axelrod books do put fresh water dipping as a good remedy for infection/parasites.
he also reccomends using proper treatments first though. at my brothers shop when he had it, we had a volitans lion fish and it wasnt looking to good, he tried the freshwater dipping method and it seemed to work as when the fish went back into salt water it seemed happy. it ended up dying a week or so later due to a parasite that the fresh water dip didn't get. and he didn't want to use meds on it thinking that could be worse.
if you do go with the freshwater dipping for a remedy, watch the fish closely, try and have matured fresh water for this (matured like out of a freshwater tank) as water straight from the tap would probably kill the fish in a very short space. dipping requires the fish to be in the water for anywhere from a couple of minutes to ten minutes, if your fish shows any signs of discomfort and stress, starts thrashing etc. get it out and back in the SW. the stress of the freshwater dip could be more detrimental to the fish then an infection or parasites.
so no, freshwater dipping before acclimatisation is definately NOT reccommended. by all means acclimatise the fish to your setup when you get home over a decent amount of time, there was a good technique posted by Majic about a drip method for this.
here - http://www.thereefuge.com/threads/starfish.276/#post-3626
otherwise floating the bag in the water for at least half an hour or so, then what I do is slowly add more water from the tank to the bag every 5 minutes. once around another half hour or so has gone after adding the water, then I just do a quick thermometor check (I have a digital thermo that is very accurate) to make sure the water is pretty much the same temp, a quick ph check aswell as PH shock can be detrimental aswell and if everything is all good and pretty much the same then the fish is released.
some others do this differently but I have found this method to be pretty successful so far. and if it works stick with it ;)
