Longest Possible Safe FW Dip?

[marie]

The longest (and only time) I've been able to leave a fish in fresh water was about 90 sec's.....I thought I had killed it

I am in the same boat with choosing healthy fish. I am a long ways away from the nearest fish store and have to rely on someone else to choose my fish so I can't afford to not quarantine, especially after I lost half my stock to marine velvet.
That said, I quarantined and treated my Achilles successfully for 8 weeks

Here's Doofus 6.5 yrs ago, recovering from fresh water dipping and copper treatment

[whatcaneyedo]

The Total Pet (our only SW LFS) in Prince George isn't exactly the alpha omega of aquarium stores... The tangs I bought were from other hobbyists.

[rastaangel]

I have largely considered that as a option BUT most people that are selling the tangs I want are either to large for there system and thus prob to large for mine as well, selling cuz of aggression and/or they want way to much money

[dreef]

I've never dipped any of my fish..and i'm 3-1/2 hours from that store you go too :P I've had my tangs for years. I just pickup the phone and order and go to the depot..to get my treasures.

[TimT]

I have given lots of fish a 15 minute fw bath to clean them of ick, velvet and flukes. If the bath is done correctly and the fish is healthy/strong enough there is usually never a problem.

You must make sure that the water is at the same temperature, pH and has been aerated for several hours to equalize the dissolved oxygen levels. Typically well water has low to no dissolved oxygen.

If the fish goes rigid with fins erect and maybe also twitching it has gone into shock and must be removed from the fw bath immediately. Observe the fish to make sure it starts to breath properly, if it does not then gently hold the fish near a powerhead so it gets a gentle flow through it's mouth. That helps carpet surfers if they are not too far gone.

Fish will normally lay on their sides in a fw bath.

If a fish has an open wound NEVER give it a fw bath.

You are dealing with some extremely sensitive fishes. IMHO Achilles are probably the most sensitive tang available. They are followed by the powder tangs.

For whether to FW dip an Achilles tang, I would NOT dip it if all the following were true;
there was a properly sized UV sterilizer on your tank,
the temp of your system was always stable(within 0.2°f),
the fish showed no signs of ick or scratching at the store and none of it's tank mates were scratching either,
it had not gotten cold during transport.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,
Tim