Fresh water dip

[piglet007]

I've read on other sites about doing a fresh water dip before adding fish. We don't have a quaranteen tank set up ( what would I need for a small makeshift one) and I read that doing a 2 to 3 minute freshwater dip would kill off some parasites (something like that) does anyone have any experience with this. I haven't added fish yet. I want to get a few more things for the clean up crew (another post on that). They are fun to watch for the time being.

[OrionGirl]

Q-tank: something that will hold water, can be heated, and preferably covered as well. Lighting isn't relevant for fish, and some lengths of PVC of fake plants to provide cover. Ideally, some extra biological media, like a sponge, can be maintained in the main tank, then pulled out for use on a quarantine or hospital setup. Otherwise, daily water changes can be used to prevent ammonia levels from becoming toxic.

I'm not a fan of FW dips. They will remove some parasites, but only those at the surface. They are also stressful for the fish--especially since often people forget to raise the pH in the FW. IMO, there are more effective, lower stress treatments to prevent introducing a pathogen.

[dfwatson]

If I were you I would buy a book called The Conscientious Marine Aquarist. This book will answer many questions (including dips and quarantine) from an experienced aquarist. On the internet you will get many different answers to the same question and usually not enough detail. Here's my answer... At the very least Quarantine. It only takes ONE sick fish to wipe you out. IMO

[axepilot]

FW dips can help rid a fish of parasitic infection, but I wouldn't recommend it as a rule to introducing new fish.

All that will do for a new fish is to stress it farther. If you're wary of the new fish, quarantine it for a week or two - but don't FW dip it on principle.

[wayne]

I don't bother with a dip, I just QT. It'll shift some stuff, but it won't touch ich or velvet, which are most peoples problems