Freshwater dip with methylene blue

Palmer · #1 12-10-2012, 04:07 AM

I am looking at setting up a FOWLER next year (I have a a previous thread about this but I think next year IS the year) and since getting into SW I have been more into corals and only have a few fish in my mixed reef. So the idea is to set up a nice big FOWLER where I can focuse more on the fish side of things. Well I was reading about saltwater fish in general and noticed info on fresh water dipping fish prior to quarantine. The thought of this scared me a bit but it seems pretty common. But the wierd thing is I have been on Can Reef since 2009 and havent noticed many threads about it. Since I am looking at a big tank with many fish I am interested in quarantine and anything I can do to protect the fish as I add more and more.

So how many people do this regularly? Thoughts on this?

xenon · #2 12-10-2012, 04:13 AM

I've done it before but that is only because I noticed my niger trigger was covered in flukes. After 5mins in a freshwater dip, they all jumped off and he felt like a new fish!

Make sure you add some alk to the water. Just enough to raise the PH of the freshwater to seawater levels. Also make sure its very well oxygenated and match the temps of your QT.

With that said, freshwater dips wont do anything for the more common issues like ich/velvet/brook.

Palmer · #3 12-10-2012, 04:16 AM

Really? It seems a lot of people use it to treat ich.

Edit- I see by one article your right they say to use a copper treatment for marine ich and velvet. Guess the title of You Tube videos should not be viewed as authoritative

xenon · #4 12-10-2012, 04:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Palmer

Really? It seems a lot of people use it to treat ich.

Ich is under the skin so it won't do much.

Your best bet to treat ich is use copper or hypo-salinity.

syncro · #5 12-10-2012, 04:25 AM

Some good info here:

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/...p-process.html

I've been doing freshwater dips on new livestock. Hard to tell if it beneficial though.

Palmer · #6 12-10-2012, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by syncro

Some good info here:

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/...p-process.html

I've been doing freshwater dips on new livestock. Hard to tell if it beneficial though.

Thanks that is good info!

So I am not hearing that many people do this on CanReef so far?

whatcaneyedo · #7 12-10-2012, 05:30 PM

I've be pretty reluctant to purchase a fish that was covered in a parasite that required medicinal treatment and a fresh water dip. SW fish are expensive and its easy enough to find healthy specimens where I shop. I suppose if you were just given a free fish to rescue it would be worth while. But I certainly wouldn't subject an otherwise healthy fish to the stress of a freshwater dip out of paranoia.

I have however freshwater dipped several tridacnids that were suffering from pinched mantle with success.

Palmer · #8 12-10-2012, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whatcaneyedo

I've be pretty reluctant to purchase a fish that was covered in a parasite that required medicinal treatment and a fresh water dip. SW fish are expensive and its easy enough to find healthy specimens where I shop. I suppose if you were just given a free fish to rescue it would be worth while. But I certainly wouldn't subject an otherwise healthy fish to the stress of a freshwater dip out of paranoia.

I have however freshwater dipped several tridacnids that were suffering from pinched mantle with success.

Thanks for the feedback. From what I have read the philosophy is to prevent problems in the larger community overall by going through this. Personally I have never done this so appreciate your perspective. From hanging around Can Reef it hasnt seemed like a common practice. I suppose those that do quarantine may just wait it out to see if the new fish show's any symptoms before introduction into a display.