how do you freshwater dip

[kurtyboh]

So, i tried this tonight because my coral beauty had a ton of ich spots on him. Temps matched(rom temp of 76) as well as ph at 8.1. I did not have that blue stuff on hand, so if thats the magic i will get some for the future possibilities. I used ro/di water (Adjusted with baking soda)in a two gallon bucket with a small ph for aeration. About a min in my fish tried to jump out which ive read is a warning sign. Put him back in qt immediately but still lost him.

Ive read several aricles, i dont know what I missed?

How do you guys dip? Should i have used treated tap water instead?

 

[Sniperhank]

I started dips on my clowns. I am doing everything that you are doing. Non-salt water for no longer than 3 minutes (to start, they can build up to longer, up to 5-6 i've been told). I used straight distilled water, nothing with baking soda. Not sure if that could be an issue or not. I'm not using anything as big as a 2 gallon either, just a plastic bowl...maybe the size of 2 soup bowls so I can easily refill and change it with my emergency water.

 

[ccCapt]

Sounds like you did it right, but just so you are aware....a freshwater dip will kill the parasites that are on the fish but obviously it has no affect on the cysts that are still in the tank waiting to hatch and hop on the fish.
If the fish was badly infested, the 1st place ich attacks is their gills since that's the easiest penetration point. The damaged gills may not have been able to handle to rapid change in salinity when you put it in freshwater.

 

[kurtyboh]

yeah, it was crazy he had one large spot that was huge i debated whether or not it was ich for a few days, but added a little bit of garlic to help him heal. waited a few days and did like a 70% water change to remove the garlic as it stinks after a bit, and that night when we got home he was covered in spots, like well over a hundred would be my guess. I too thought about the gill issue, too many of them on the gills and when the dip makes them irratans "explode" it damages their gills. I had also emptied the tank and pulled everything out so it wouldnt come back after the dip.

I would have taken much more serious action earlier on if I had thought it really was ich.

@sniperhawk, its important to match the ph of the dip water to the tank water, or you risk throwing your fish into shock. I used baking soda to raise it, vinegar will lower it.

@cccapt, i did not konw the gills were the first point of penetration... As soon as I get a ph meter fw dip will become part of my qt process.

 

[Sniperhank]

Ya, I didn't put those together until today actually. I accidently murdered my ph. It did a great job of finishing off my inverts. Added stuff to up my ph and hopefully be better when I get home from work. I have made to many dumb decisions this weekend and dpnt want to lose my last tankmates.

 

[kurtyboh]

Ph needs to be moved up and down slowly so hopefuly whatever you added you put on a drip.

 

[Sniperhank]

Yeah...it dripped...really fast...