Preventative Bath/Dip of freshwater before acclimation

[Guest]

OK. Most article says acclimate the fish slowly. In my case, I'd like to get rid of some fish and get a small Blue Hippo Tang. I'm going to acclimate them. However, another website suggests to give a preventative Bath/Dip of freshwater before assimilating the Blue Hippo because of their tendency to carry ich.

Now, wouldn't the fish go into a shock when it is brought to a freshwater situation straight from the LFS bag?

So how is this? Do I first put the thing in a bucket of freshwater, then syphon from the SW tank through a small tube until I full up a 5G bucket?

How is this?

they said Blue Tangs' most common deaths come from wrong acclimation, besides ich. Some websites also share that they meet people who suddenly have ich problems (white spots) after assimilating a Blue Hippo into their healthy tank.

Can someone tell me what the right thing to do is?

 

[seaham358]

I would say if you plan on keeping that fish long term you are going to need a bigger tank. IMO you need to skip on the Hippo.

 

[Guest]

Most Hippos I see in LFSs are somewhere between 1" to 1.5". Just out of curiosity, how long before the Tang would be somewhere in the 5 - 6" length?

Also, any answers to my original post? Thanks.

 

[lando]

A FW dip will do nothing productive, it will only serve to stress the fish even more then it already is. More appropriate is to QT the fish for 6 weeks and, if needed, do a hypo-salinity treatment for a few weeks. Again...FW dips serve no useful purpose.

 

[Guest]

DAY 3 of the Hippo move-in. I had a lot of great information here regarding acclimation. I tried the drip acclimation process. It took 2 and a half hours. But it was well worth it. The Tang is swimming around, eating spirulina flakes, and hanging out with the false percula wherever it goes. Cross my fingers. The tang is under strict observation right now.

 

[Guest]

I would not do a FW dip. They don't work and can cause stress which could allow ich to take control. The only two effective means of treating SW ich are copper and hyposalanity. There is a third method called a three day transfer method, but it's quite involved. I'd try hyposalanity in a QT for 4-6 weeks in a smaller tank before introducing it to your ST. You'll need a refractometer to be sure it's 1.009. Be sure to slowly drop the salanity over a few days and then raise it again after the six weeks. Hyposalanity is approximately 1/3 that of NSW. Drip acclimation with airline tubing (1 drop every 3-5 seconds) over 2-3 hours is the best way to get him ready for your ST. Good luck!

KG