Freshwater dip to treat Ich

Again I am no expert but I justify it like this. You already have the fish out of the tank and in a stressful situation. Odds are it is going to get sick with something. If you dip the fish before you introduce it into the tank you are killing anything it picked up in the store and avoiding bringing the infection into your quarantine tank with the fish. This is of course if its not already in your tank. I have read where other people do this. It does make sense to me that if you can kill it before it even has a chance to get started in your tank....then do it. It will make the treatment that much easier. I believe there is a treatment out there where the fish are moved from tank to tank. This is kind of what I am doing. Only I am attempting to kill the infection before it can get into my water.

 

Here's an article on the lifecycle of ich that might help you evaluate your treatment methods. A FW dip that only gets rid of a few or "most" at a certain stage isn't really going to keep a tank ich free.

Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part I by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com

 

but a FW dip doesn't kill everything!!!

 

Agreed.....but it kills most. Thus imho it is worth the extra 4-6 mins to kill the parasite or disease that fish almost always seem to pick up in a store. I am still in the re-learning process as I have been out of this for years. Unfortunately, I see the treatments for Ich have not improved much in the last 10 years. I am only going with my tried and true methods that I have knowledge of. I know a lot of people disagree...but as many that disagree...there will be just as many agree...IMHO.

 

It kills mostly everything...except for crypto. Crypto isn't susceptible to freshwater dips during the majority of its life cycle, thanks to being burrowed into the fish's skin and in a hardened cyst. The only time it's vulnerable to freshwater/hypo is during the free swimming stage, which is a very limited period.

 

Thank you for the great info! I have saved that link to my favorites and will study it further through out the week. Marine Ich is a very common issue...it appears there is no clear cut treatment without its serious side effects.

 

The reason the treatments have not changed much is not due to lack of effort, especially on the part of the marine fish industry.

Copper
Formalin
Hyposalinity

All remain the only scientifically proven methods for eradication of marine ich. This is the reason you see it time and time again, because intense research has eleminated all the others treatments as effective in it's erradication.

 

Agreed Madam....

 

However....am I wrong to try to kill as much of the parasite or infection as possible before I introduce the fish to my water????

 

If you feel confident in your ability to do the freshwater bath or dip and the fish is not already under stress then I so no problem with it. A QT is the most effective way to treat and prevent introduction of disease to the display IMO.

I am happy to hear you angel is doing well and eating.