Longest Possible Safe FW Dip?

[TimT]

In an ideal world it is best to try and remove the stress on a fish. It may not however be possible as it could be a health issue with the fish. The fish go through a lot stress and handling from Reef to Retail.

In the real world the Ick doesnt care if the fish is stressed or not. A fishes immune system is so compromised by the time a hobbyist sees it that providing a stress free environment wont help it much. A good analogy is to compare Ick to a mosquito. Eating a healthy diet and living stress free won't stop you from being bitten if mosquitoes are around. There are people who are mosquito magnets while others hardly get bit. I seem to be the magnet type. LoL

In a Display Tank UV works well when properly set up... flow rate and wattage. A lot of times people don't set it up properly so it does next to nothing and they figure UV doesn't work. For a 200 gallon tank I would recommend a 50 to 60watt UV with a pump that does about 500gph. I setup a Coralife Turbo Twist 36 watt with a Maxijet 1200 on a 150 gallon tank and it cleared up the ick in no time. Cost was about $250.

There is only one life stage that Ick and Velvet can be destroyed and that is the free swimming stage when they are trying to find a new host. Most tanks don't produce a lot of zooplankton so I would not risk your fish for it. Chances are most zooplankton larvae is from pods or bristle worms anyways.

Cheers,
Tim