FRESH WATER BATHS??? Any Imput, Experience, advice???

[riser]

Hello all...

I have been having a few problems with my tank (UNSTABLE pH, alk, etc.) & seem to finally gotton that straighten out (except pH), but not without causing stress to a couple (newly added) Chromis which are in fishie heaven (as of yesterday). The 3rd one is swimming along great, eating, etc... but is showing signs of ICH! I've spent the last several hours reading about ich and have one question:

Would a SALT BATH (table salt, 1tbs per 5gal over 8 hours) actually work???


Thanks to all that reply!

[ssgibby]

Actually it would be a fresh water bath. Very dangerous, but it does work.
I dont rembmer the scentific explination, but basically the fungus survives in salt water, when exposed to fresh water, it absorbs the water and kind of explodes. THIS IS ONLY WHAT I HAVE HEARD, take it for a grain of salt.

[Pineapple House]

I think you are talking about a Fresh Water Dip....very risky as Scott said, but does work. For ich, I would personally use the Copper Method, although can be expensive compared to the freshwater dip. I would set up a 10 gallon quaratine tank, and use the copper treatments for it.

Saltwater Ich caused by the protist parasite Cryptocaryon irritans . Transfer the fish to a quarantine tank and leave the main tank free from any fish for at least 48 hours, better still for a week. You do not cycle a quarantine tank, basically you only need to put a fresh and sterile seawater. You need to attach a filter to the quarantine tank, do not use any biological filteration, only mechanical filtration and if you could provide ozonation or UV irradiation, so much the better.

Feed your fish only once every three days for the rest of treatment. To treat find any specialty medicaments for salwater ich, it should contain a copper compound (malachite green). If you could not get these treatments, then just find malachite green and a general anti-bacterial and anti-fungal medicine (not antibiotics). The quarantine tank should be dosed with malachite green to form a bath, dosing rate should be equivalent to 3 mg/ liter.

The following can be used to form a bath in the tank, Nifuripinol at 0.25 mg/ liter, Parachlorophenoxyethanol at 20 mg/ liter, and Phenoxyethanol at 100 mg/ liter (refrain from using anti-biotics). Replace the quarantine tank's water every 24 hours and dose out for a new bath (or every three days if you want ot be economical). Continue treatment until symptoms are gone for a week. When symptoms are gone the water need only to be replaced every three days.

Also, I am moving this to the "Fish Care and Treatment" forum, where it will likely get more replies. This forum is for tips and tricks for sucessfull reefing, fish care and treatment is a exelent place, where you will get the proper info on getting over ick :-)

PH =)

[Irisservice]

I used this stuff and it worked well but you need a good skimmer
http://www.kentmarine.com/rxp.html

[ssgibby]

I have also had luck with the same product in the past.

[gizmo]

If you're able to catch the fish, I would recomment doing hyposalinity in a Qtank instead of using the copper base treatment. This method has work very well for me. All you have to do is keep the main tank fishless for 4-6 weeks. the Qtank salinity will need to be at around 1.009 - 1.010 for it work.

I don't recomment doing a fresh water dip because the ich is still in the main tank. If the pH and other stress factors are resolved, it continue to get it. Anyway, if you want to do the treatment, here are the steps someone gave me a while back.
STEPS FOR A FRESHWATER DIP:

1.) Take a decent amount of pure freshwater (R.O/D.I. or equiv.), and get it up to tank temperature (you
can float the water in a ziplok bag for a few minutes or if you have the means, an extra heater and
thermometer)
2.) Put the water in a large bowl or bucket... some means of containing the water.
3.) Add some pH buffer if you have it, we use Seachem reefbuffer... Add just a tiny amount, like not even
1/8 a teaspoon. Just a enough to get the pH to about what your tank is at. If it's not exact, don't
worry... If this makes you nervous using 100% freshwater, then add a little saltwater from your tank, but
most (at least 3/4) of the water should be freshwater!
4.) Do NOT net your puffer!!!! This can cause severe problems!!! We recommend using your hand (yes
hand) and GENTLY pick up the puffer, and QUICKLY but softly place him in the freshwater you've
prepared. Keep him in there for at least 1 minute, but not more than 2... too much can be bad. You
*should* notice the ich "popping" off the body. The ich cannot live in low salinity water, and will begin to
die in literally seconds.
5.) Your puffer will probably not enjoy the dip, but fear not... Put the puffer back in your tank (again, use
your hand). Your puffer will calm down in a few minutes, then you will notice the ich falling off it's body!
And within 30 minutes or so, your puffer should be breathing easier (and you too).
6.) If the ich remains, repeat this as frequently as 2-3 times/day. We usually noticed such improvements
that we would only do it once per day until the ich was minimal.

--Tony

[killroysrevenge]

Hypo-salinity worked for me. I cant remember how low I lowered the tanks specific gravity but it was pretty low. I think like 1.018. It takes a while but it works at first signs of ick.

[thanpapa]

If you want to make freshwater baths you should use tap water and not salt water. I assume you have a salt water aquarium....?????
There is a specific technik how to make the freshwater baths and it really works!
If you are intersted in the technik, I can explain you how to do it
Thanassis from Greece
Hello all...

I have been having a few problems with my tank (UNSTABLE pH, alk, etc.) & seem to finally gotton that straighten out (except pH), but not without causing stress to a couple (newly added) Chromis which are in fishie heaven (as of yesterday). The 3rd one is swimming along great, eating, etc... but is showing signs of ICH! I've spent the last several hours reading about ich and have one question:

Would a SALT BATH (table salt, 1tbs per 5gal over 8 hours) actually work???


Thanks to all that reply!