[oama]

To FW Dips or Not to Dip....That is very often a hot and heeded debate!

The biggest problem is that there is know "set" time for dipping for all species. Some species can not take more than 30 seconds, while others can take over five minutes. When we broke down a 4000 gal system of tanks, we filled it with FW before bleaching it. It took two days to fill. Just before adding the bleach, we checked the system. And low and behold, there was a Splendid Dottyback in the sump. It was very stressed and was easily netted up. But it did survive! And that surprised all of us, b/c Pseudochromise splendens is a vertual "Canary of the Coal Mine" when it comes to poor water quality (NH4, NO2, etc.).

However, I truely believe in FW dips. With extra tanks availible and FW dips each day, you can "Out Race" any epiparasite w/out the use of "drugs"!!! Just Dip'm and place into a new/clean/sanitized tank each day. Bleach the old tank over night and then get it ready to fill again. You will drop off most of the cyst laying "adult" parasites with each dip and the fish will not be in the tank long enough for any cysts to hatch and reinfect them.

The Key is to watch the fish and to make sure that your FW is OK. By this I mean No Chlorine!!!! Many cities chlorinate the drinking water, so beware! Also, buffering the FW helps. Living in Florida, the water is so hard you can walk over it, so we don't worry about it that much. As to watching the fish....Don't say that you are going to do a 3 minute dip and walk away from the fish. Look at them! If they are near the bottom but looking up at you (with the expression of "why are you doing this to me???") then they are OK. But if you see them starting to keel over and lay on their sides...The bath is done! Get'm Out!

And The Temps should be the same as the tank they came from! 1 degree Celcius (~3 degrees F) difference is sudgested as the most variance. If you live in Chicago and it's winter, don't FW dip tropical reef fish with water right out of the tap!

Many people have hiped Hyposaline (low salinity) as a treatment for common Ich et al. But this can leed to blinding the fish and other health problems. Think about those people in Polar Bear Clubs who jump into holes in frozen lakes. It's a shock to the system, but would they survive if they stayed for a week?

The better solution IMHO, if possible, remove the fish and FW dip them daily and put into new tanks and leave the "infected" tank without fish (source of prey) for 2-3 weeks. The cysts will hatch and die off without a host.