Irritated but getting better...another lesson learned!

[NanoKat]

Made the mistake of putting a wild caught neon goby in the tank a while back and ended up with an ich outbreak. Tried treating with garlic and was fighting the good fight for a while, then fish started dying off. I don't have a quarantine tank any more so that wouldn't have been an option, but I have since heard that I could have done a freshwater dip on the neon before placing him in my main tank. Well, I lost my beautiful little mimic tang, my green spot mandarin (some say they can't get ich, but he looked like he had some variation of it...there were some sort of "spots" on him), and my Christmas goby.

Well, I have lost fish in the past and really wanted to get a grip on this situation, so was advised that a UV sterilizer might help me out. The tank is 20g and I have the hang on Eco System, so I don't have many places to put one, but someone mentioned the Submariner. It's an all-in-one unit with bulb, pump, filter pads, etc. and is well contained in a small size. Got it the other day and found it wouldn't fit in the last chamber of the Eco System as I wanted it to, but I did have space since I last moved my rocks around in the back left corner. It runs great and I'm loving the little added flow it gives...and in a different direction from my powerhead. Got it running on high for a while at first then I can turn it down. It's only a 5w model, so not sure if I can "over do it" at all.

So, this time the lesson learned is that I can't just dump the new fish into my tank if I am even suspicous at all of them carrying something. Can all fish be freshwater dipped though? And is this a viable method for taking care of the bulk of infections a new fish can bring? Also, can someone clarify the steps of this dip? Want to do it right when I do have to...think I'm gonna run the UV for a month though, just to be safe!

I'm coming out of my self punishment now and would like to consider it a lesson learned...any input would be appreciated! Thanx in advance!

 

[RicksReefs]

a FW dip has little to no effect on ich. it is, however, pretty effective against oodinium, flukes, and other trematodes that we have running around out here.

my dips usually consist of 2 gallons of RO water, a 1/4 tsp. of kent superbuffer (to bring the pH up), and 4 drops of quickcure (formalin/malachite green). most fish get dipped for at least 2-3 minutes, longer for larger fish. aeration in the dip is a good thing too.

 

[pedromatic]

I've used HydroPlex in the past with good results. Put it in the holding tank/bag about ten minutes before adding the fish to the tank. Once I had a couple of Neon Gobies in the bag when I noticed they had some spots. Dipped them in RO for abut 10 minutes then dumped them in. They survived and thrived in my tank.

 

[gasman059]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12262785#post12262785 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RicksReefs
a FW dip has little to no effect on ich. it is, however, pretty effective against oodinium, flukes, and other trematodes that we have running around out here.

my dips usually consist of 2 gallons of RO water, a 1/4 tsp. of kent superbuffer (to bring the pH up), and 4 drops of quickcure (formalin/malachite green). most fish get dipped for at least 2-3 minutes, longer for larger fish. aeration in the dip is a good thing too.

thx great info!

 

[NanoKat]

Awesome, now at least I can do this properly when I do add fish again. Thanx for the info. At least my lawnmower is thriving...he was actually the last addition to the tank. Then my watchman goby that I believe will survive a nuclear holocaust...he's been through all my ups and downs with the tank...about three years worth! He usually disappears for a while, then reappears again a few days (sometimes weeks!) later.

 

[NanoKat]

Oh, and I forgot to ask...is the UV sterilizer helpful in fighting such things that may get in my tank from new fish additions?

 

[RicksReefs]

meh, it won't hurt much, but a lot of parasites won't be effected by it unless the dwell time is in the 5-6+ minute range. it will however, normally kill algae spores, viruses, bacteria, and protozoans. it'll also mess with the good pods passing thru.

 

[NanoKat]

Yeah, I'm going to cut the sterilizer way back soon and then maybe cycle it on and off somehow. Any recommendations as to how to run it intermittently...maybe an hour a day or something?

Luckily though most pods and whatnot cannot pass thru the included filter pads in the unit. I peeked at it today and there were actually some walking around on the pads, so it must be pretty gentle flow thru them.