Dipping fish before adding to tank?

a guy at the LFS tries to sell me Cupramine by Seachem, said to put 2 drops of this in a littel bucket with my tank water adn put any new fish in this for 3-7 minutes, and that this gets rid of anything the fish may or may not have, so that i dont intoduce ich or anything into my tank.

is this an effective way of doing this?

is it dont before or after alclamation?

thank you!

 

Sounds like the LFS is trying to sell you something to make a profit only. Not what's best for your fish. The only way to guarantee that a pest free fish is added to your tank is to quarantine it for several weeks. This dipping they're talking about is a method that a lot of LFS use as a quick fix. I used to work in one, and it's what we did. Sadly

Ask the LFS if you can put $$ down on the fish and leave it there for a few weeks. It's what I do. Go in and watch your fish. Make sure it's eating well and remains pest free.

Or find a dealer (like HappyCoral Inc) who QT all their fish before selling them. Usually they'll allow you to pay for or put money down on the fish until QT is over. Good luck

 

+1 what your LFS is describing is completely useless and anyone working at an LFS should know that. I would recommend not relying on this person for info in the future.


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ill usually only buy something if i know its been there for at least a month, doesnt have white dots, all the fins are nice and pretty, and ive seen them eat. this is just somthing one of the guys told me about, he said its a "must do" for every fish that goes in your system

 

i must say that i want the fish before the lfs takes him out of the bag, i order all my fish and want them in the shippers bag unopened and i have not lost one this way,

 

This is an excellent topic......I know that after reading how certain tank borne illnesses can hitch hike from tank to tank riding on the very fish we buy, or rocks we place, or corals we purchase. I am guilty netting the fish out of the water I bought it in (after proper acclimation of course) and throwing it in the tank, knowing in my head that if it's got something on it I'm taking a huge risk. Now the other option is building your own quarantine tank, and watching it there. And now here's a third option of letting the fish 'cure' at the LFS. Although, I have heard of some stores purposely adding trace amounts of copper to their tanks with fish only to keep diseases dormant or dead while the buyers keep a watchful eye. When they do decide to buy the fish, it's stressed from the 'medication' too bad and doesn't last very long. This is only something I've read before, but I cant imagine a store doing this to every fish due to it's reputation going down hill, but, if they were to get a fish in that looked 'somewhat' healthy, but not the best, they could use this trick to perk it up for sale purpose, and gain the profit. I personally think an at home quarantine tank would be best suited. There you could provide personal care where at the LFS it would get only moderate care if that. Maybe good to well care depending on your lfs, but remember, they have an entire store to run. Even if they genuinely want to watch after a sick arrival, sometimes there just aren't that many hours in the day to do everything they would 'like' to do. After all, somebody has to empty all those skimmer cups at the end of each night, and straighten all those fallen corals, and don't forget to feed all those tiny mouths.....

 

thats a good point, but with new guys like me starting up, and so many others, how have already dumped over $1800 into their set up, dont have the spare change layin around for a QT tank.

and on the note of QT tanks, say i were to set one up, that was like a 30 gallon cube or somthing along those lines, and i wanted to QT a tang for 6 weeks, wouldnt him being in the smaller tank for six weeks mess him up more than just going stright into the 90 gallon DT after proper acclimation and a quick dip?

 

No it wouldn't mess him up. We are telling you that the *quick dip* is totally useless. And as far as Tangs are concerned they are notorious for Marine ICH. With them only time will tell. One good reason to leave it QT at the LFS. But think about adding a sick fish to your tank and making every other fish sick as well. Or finding it covered with ich 2 weeks later and then try netting it out of your tank. That's messed up! That's stressful!

A QT tank doesn't have to be all that lol. Kept simple it's worth it. May come in handy later on too. I totally understand about the extra costs. I've had to choose to do my QT via the LFS and so far I've been very successful.

 

A QT tank can be a 5-gallon bucket a $10 powerhead, a filter sponge that has been in your sump for a while to accumulate bacteria, a small glazed flower pot for shelter, and a $10 heater. Any light source, including room light will do. Really, spare parts and $20 can do most of what you need. For bigger fish, use a rubbermaid tub. I would guess 30 gallons is enough to keep a medium tang for 6 weeks. Before the Tang police, I kept tangs permanently in a 40g Breeder.

 

well, i must say this post is getting to me a bit. a QT to be affective in my opinion must be completly cycled as well as your main tank and must be of size for the fish you are putting in it. i wouldn't put any fish in a bucket for 3 or 4 weeks unless i wanted to well, to kill it. i believe a trickle filter is the best for QT's a little bit of rock for a natural hidding place water the same temp as your show tank normal lighting nothing fancey, you can't start up a QT the minute you get your fish, it must stay running in order to be a hospital tank. this is why most reefers don't have a QT, in my opinion there are not many saltwater fish that are not prone to white spot, there's no simple solution to saltwater ich, it can break out at any time, for no reason i can see at all, it just happens, it's part of reefing, compatibility of the fish you buy is the key to successful fish keeping, research, make sure the fish will live together before you put them in that tank, i believe that's better than a QT in the long run.