30 minutes fresh water dip for Ich help!

[Paradi]

hi reefers, how long do you think an iched fish should be dipped in fresh water to rid it from the ich pockets and explode them ? someone said 30 minutes !!! isnt that too much for a stressed Iched fish ?? please help before I doom the lil fish, its a PBT 7 inches, HELPPPPPPPPPP

 

[Paradi]

help appreciated

 

[AJtheReefer]

If I was you, I would discard that advice. A 30 minutes FW dip, would probably kill the fish and or cause serious damage.

A short FW may alleviate some of the symptoms, but won't cure the ich.

Hypo salinity and copper are the sure bets (but a quarantine/hospital tank are required)

 

[Paradi]

what about a 30 minute freshwater dip NOT for Ich but for just taking off or exploding the parasites and microbes in a NEW fish's gills and under its scales and fins ? i guess its too much for a new fish, what do you think ?

 

[MiddletonMark]

I wouldn't do one that long - but I also would generally avoid a FW dip except for very few reasons.

QT + treatment for a specific ailment is a better bet IMO.

 

[AJtheReefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10036387#post10036387 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Paradi
what about a 30 minute freshwater dip NOT for Ich but for just taking off or exploding the parasites and microbes in a NEW fish's gills and under its scales and fins ? i guess its too much for a new fish, what do you think ?

I seen some reports of people doing this. But if 5-10 minutes are effective, why risk doing 30 minutes?

 

[israelnajar]

I have done a 15 minute fresh water dip with 6 drops of methylene blue in quart of water.

I have also done a 30 minute dip but that was only with 50% fresh water and the other 50% is tank water the fish came from, still using methylene blue. And I watched the last 15 minutes if there were any signs of stress back into the tank he went.

 

[Paradi]

hmm iam confused now, that guy said the 30 minutes FW dip for new comers will rid them from 90% of parasites and whatever, i dont trust him though, sounds too much for a sudden salinity shock, thank you so much for your help AJtheReefer, MiddletonMark and Israelnajar

 

[israelnajar]

Well a 30 minute FW dip on a new fish will probably kill it since it is already stressed out.

But QTing is your best bet, that way you can do hypo and dose any medication if necessary.

 

[luke33]

All Wrong

All Wrong

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10036479#post10036479 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Paradi
hmm iam confused now, that guy said the 30 minutes FW dip for new comers will rid them from 90% of parasites and whatever, i dont trust him though, sounds too much for a sudden salinity shock, thank you so much for your help AJtheReefer, MiddletonMark and Israelnajar

Here's the problem here, you'll "rid them from 90% of parasites" What good will that do? You need to scrap that advice you got. A freshwater dip will more than likely get your fish all stressed and alow the ick to regroup and hurt your fish even more. FW dips don't do much for ick, if anything. You need to hypo if you have ick. If you cure 90% of the parasites(which is far from true) and throw the fish back into your tank, the 10% will regroup, breed and attach again, so that would do nothing. FWIW, the only stage that would kill ick in FW is a free swimming stage. The ick that is imbedded into your fish's body won't be affected. Ick in this stage has been put in fresh water for over 2hrs in tests and it still comes out fine. Just wanted to clarify this. Hope you didn't take that the wrong way : ) Just wanted to help

 

[Paradi]

Luke !!! thank you i feel better now phewwww, i would've killed the fish hehe thank you and thank you guys so much

 

[Vitaly]

Paradi...you need to also consider the pathogen you are treating. In the case of ich, the protozoa itself is embedded below the fishes epithelia. Consequently it is believed that doing dips will be unlikely to access the pathogen and will merely stress the animal; as has been suggested by others in this thread.

The goal in treatment should be to isolate the infected individual and take steps to interfere with the pathogens ability to reproduce (same reasons that we take antibiotics). Treatments such as hyposalinity, formulin, copper, etc are all targeted towards this.

For the purpose of ich treatment I would encourage you to read the series of articles written by Terry Bartelme entitled "News from the Warfront with Cryptocaryon irritans." There are five parts to the series, but for the sake of time I would direct to you to these two specifically.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2003/mini1.htm
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/jan2004/mini3.htm

Good luck...


P.S. - Going back to the issue of dipping and killing X% of parasites. The only peer-reviewed study that I have seen on this matter demonstrated that "All adult and juvenile worms were removed by baths in formalin (400 p.p.m., 25 min) or fresh water (1 h)." ¹

I would only perform such a procedure in the most dire of situations. I did a formalin dip with a clown that had a terrible case of Brook...it was an extremely nerve wracking experience.

1) Diggles BK, Roubal FR, Lester RJ.The influence of formalin, benzocaine and hyposalinity on the fecundity and viability of Polylabroides multispinosus (Monogenea: Microcotylidae) parasitic on the gills of Acanthopagrus australis (Pisces: Sparidae). Int J Parasitol. 1993 Nov;23(7):877-84
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...t_uids=8314372&query_hl=3&itool=pubmed_docsum

 

[Paradi]

Vitaly ! great info , than you so much, iam reading and learing from those articles now, thank you