More quarantine & fresh water dip advice

[sighthoundlover]

Thank you both for responding. Sounds like using copper prophylactically wasn't a good idea. I think I read about it in the book by Robert Fenner. He also proposes fresh water dips prior to quarantine. I've heard lots of people say that fresh water dips can kill the fish so I've been frightened to do it. Any advice?

 

[Anonymous]

Well, I happen to know Bob personally, and was involved in the NMA-RI book he and Anthony wrote. To the best of my knowledge (in other words, without calling him or going through his writings that I have in my library) he's talking more in terms of using copper for large(r) scale operations, not necessarily for the home hobbyist with animals that show no signs of disease.

As for freshwater dips, most of us on the crew advocate this (at least, those of us who have import/export/wholesale experience - many of the hobbyists don't). It's an excellent tool, both prior to introduction to quarantine and prior to introduction to display. I, personally, have seen saltwater fish survive dips that lots of folks insist will kill them. In my own experience it appears that fish that don't survive dipping were already on weak fins, and most appeared to already be quite ill/stressed from other causes. That being said, there are some fish that I don't dip - most notably those being mandarin dragonets.

What kind of advice were you looking for specifically?

 

[sighthoundlover]

Well, I'm looking for all the expert advice I can get! :wink:

I had a great 75 gallon tank for 6 or 7 months and then Marine Velvet hit and wiped out practically everything. I had not used quarantine for any of my fish prior to that. I tried to dip them in freshwater while this was going on but they looked like they were going to die! Now that you mentioned it, it was probably because they were already sick. :!: After that I had seen some threads of people who said they were having bad experiences with dipping so I just figured it was a bad idea.

Now I have this gramma in the quarantine tank that I didn't freshwater dip prior to putting her there. When I transfer her to my main tank (BTW do you recommend 21 or 30 days in quarantine??) it seems not necessary to dip her - is that right? I was hoping to get the water in my main tank and the water in my quarantine about equal in salinity, scoop her up in a tuperware container, then pour her into a net and let the water go into a waste bucket, then release her from the net into the main tank. I've read that a lot about acclimation, some of which says it's hooey :? , so this seemed like the right way to do it. Of course, I'm new at this and there sure is a STEEP learning curve. But it's fun and interesting and the more help I can get, the better!