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    Thread: Fresh water Dipping your fish!

    1. #1
      poakley723 is offline Registered User
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      Fresh water Dipping your fish!

      First off I want to say that I am in no way a chemist, fish doctor or anything of the sort. I am a hobbyist just like most everyone on the forums here.

      I have done a lot of internet research of the last week to perform fresh water dips on a sick clown fish. I believe my clown fish to have BROOKLYNELLA. I found many questions in my search and would like tell my findings.

      My clown fish is being kept in a 5 gallon hospital tank with PVC pipes for hiding in. Filtration incudes a whisper 10i filter with Live rock and is being aerated with a small air pump attached to a bubble bar about six inches long.

      Equipment needed:
      PH test kit
      ALK supplement
      RODI Water
      large Glass Bowl
      Thermometer
      air pump


      Step by Step:

      1. Fill a bowl with 6 cups of RODI water.

      2. Microwave the water to increase the temperature to match the saltwater aquarium.
      In my 1.7 kw microwave it was approx. 15 seconds per 2 degrees of increase.

      3. To match the PH using I used my DIY Randy's 2 part ALK supplement. VERY LITTLE IS NEEDED. I add one drop to increase the PH .4 degree's so it took a total of approximately 2 drops to increase the PH to match my saltwater PH test of 8.3.

      4. Aerate the water for a few minutes and test the PH again to insure proper PH.

      5. Gently place your sick fish into the fresh water. We have found using our hand is the easiest. Be sure your hands are free of oils dirt and soap.

      6. Set a timer for five minutes while you observer your fish. Some fish may not be able to handle five minutes. may notice a few changes in you demeanor of your fish depending on its health. The first dip our clown did not swim much and continued to have heavy respiration. The second and third dip our clown was a more active, swimming around the bowl but still displayed heavy respiration.

      7. After five minutes gently return your fish to the original aquarium. We have noticed our fish to be disoriented for about thirty seconds with his tail kind of floating up.

      8. We have done fresh water dips on day 1, 2, 4 and plan to do the dip on days 6, 8, and 11.

      9. We have noticed daily increases in our clown fish's health and decreased signs of White slim and white parasites.


      PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THESE ARE ONLY MY FINDINGS AND ARE NOT IN ANYWAY SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN FACTS. THEY ARE ONLY MY FINDINGS AND WHAT I SEE TO BE SUCSESSFULL TREATMENT.

      If you have any questions please feel free to PM me.
      Last edited by poakley723; 04-24-2014 at 06:38 AM.

    2. #2
      ReEfErAdDiCt is offline Registered User
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      I freshwater dip every fish when I get it and even several times if they're sick. I just put rodi in a bag and float it to temp match, put the fish in for only 3 mins max, and keep the fish moving with a baster or something of the sort. Never had a problem with not adjusting anything else. Only reason I do three minutes instead of five is because I know there are certain fish that cannot handle freshwater as well as others so I'd rather not take the risk.

    3. #3
      poakley723 is offline Registered User
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      I am not 100% sure of the PH adjustment using my ALK portion or the two part. I do know for sure that it temporarily raises PH but I test ph after the freshwater dip and the PH drops back down slightly.

    4. #4
      davocean is offline Registered User
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      Quote Originally Posted by poakley723 View Post
      I am not 100% sure of the PH adjustment using my ALK portion or the two part. I do know for sure that it temporarily raises PH but I test ph after the freshwater dip and the PH drops back down slightly.
      That is the tricky part as yes, you do want to try your best to have the same PH and alk as best as possible.
      I FW dip all new fish, always.
      Once in a blue moon some fish will not survive this, usually because they are riddled w/ parasites or something and that dieoff going on is too much, but they most likely would have died anyway.
      In the case of sickness that can not be easily ID'd or when i have no idea what to do w/ an obvious sick and seemingly already dying fish it is a hail Mary I have used successfully a number of times.
      Good luck w/ your fish and thanks for the post.

    5. #5
      poakley723 is offline Registered User
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      I am going to keep experimenting with PH and find a good way to have solid constant PH and keep adding it to the original post. I could not find a solid place that actually explained how to dip fish without leaving fifty questions in my mind.

      With that in mind I made this post. Hopefully with all our colective knowledge we can have a solid STICKY about how to dip your fish to help everyone cure there sick fish.

      One of the hardest parts is to actually have a hospital tank set up. I am sure it is even harder when you have to set a tank up for larger fish where a 40 gallon or larger tank is needed.

      I only spent about $50 on my 5 gallon set up and am very hapy with it.

      As to the Hail Mary comment. You are correct a fresh water dip is kind of a catch all. I have read a lot about fresh water dips in the last week. It is not really a cure for most fish issues but it is a good buffer. It doesn't cure the fish but does keep the parasites, fungus and bactria at a minimum so you can find the correct cure.

    6. #6
      davocean is offline Registered User
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      FW dipping has been a practice used for quite some time, but param levels and keeping similar PH/alk has been a more recent add on to that practice to improve upon it.
      Not too long ago my female clown, my baby of 5 years had a weird thing, wasn't sure if it was a tailspike from my YT, a bristle/firewom spike, or even a parasite or whatever, just could not tell, but it was pretty ugly, and getting worse, and she was listing.
      I was sick to my stomache at the thought of losing her, so I did a FW dip that I also added melafix in just a total act of desperation and to my surprise recovery happened fast afterwards.
      Hope you have similar luck.

    7. #7
      SDguy's Avatar
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      Rather than adding a pH buffer to the FW (I used to do this), I add a tiny amount of tank water. This will change non-buffered pure RO/DI to the same pH as the added salt water (or very very close to it). This way you aren't using 8.5 pH FW dip on a fish coming from possibly below 8.0 pH tank water. The tiny amount of salt doesn't change the effects of the FW during the dip.

      To temperature adjust, I simply float a bag of FW in the same tank as the fish.

      I dip longer, usually, as well. 10 minutes minimum.

      Nice write-up!
      Peter


      Salty fingers since 1989. Current tanks: 240g FOWLR, 15g QT.

    8. #8
      poakley723 is offline Registered User
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      Thanks SDGUY I hope it helps someone and a sick little fish out.

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