New fish QT with or without FW dip?

pecan2phat

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So what is the consensus for when you have new fish arriving unseen.
Do you do a FW dip then into a QT tank whether you see external parasites or not?
Does proactive FW dips help or harm the fish in terms of acclimating to a new QT environment?

TIA
 
So what is the consensus for when you have new fish arriving unseen.
Do you do a FW dip then into a QT tank whether you see external parasites or not?
Does proactive FW dips help or harm the fish in terms of acclimating to a new QT environment?

TIA

I do a FW dip on almost every single fish reguardless. It doesn’t hurt them as long as the temp is matched. It’s good to have an air stone going.
 
Depends how the fish arrives, if fish arrives from nearby LFS abd isnswimming normally i dont mind a FW dip. If fish has shipped fornsome time and could have some ammonianin the bag im usually careful to avoid raising PH fast and leqve the FW dip till few days later. Also what fish it is plays a role, wrasses are notorious for handling medication or dips bad. Didntnhave many issues dipping them except for one time where 3 wrasses which had been doing well in QT except for some twitching took the 5 min dip really bad, ine died minutes later and the 2 others followed in coming couple days.
 
I FW dip all fish it is the first diagnostic tool I use to look for flukes.
 
So if fish are arriving from being shipped overnight and after temperature acclimation and the fish (tangs and large angels) look fine in temporary holding vessel, you would still dip them before going into a QT tank.
Is that the consensus?
 
So if fish are arriving from being shipped overnight and after temperature acclimation and the fish (tangs and large angels) look fine in temporary holding vessel, you would still dip them before going into a QT tank.
Is that the consensus?

Yes sir. A fish can appear to look great, but have you ever observed how small flukes can be? They can be tiny.

Not only flukes but other things as well. A FW dip will begin the process of clearing or alleviating the fish externally. It’s a great 1st step and most fish tolerate it well. The only reason you wouldn’t do a FW dip would be if the fish had previously been treated or if the fish was is very poor health. At that point it would be contraindicated.

That said... we all have our own methods. It doesn’t have to be done and if you don’t feel comfortable then don’t do it. I’ve personally found that most fish (you can add Anthias to that list) tolerate well.
 
I don’t with every fish... although they tolerate it fine, I feel like some wrasses and more delicate fish can become a bit more stressed after fw dips than say tangs or larger fish. So, I only dip if I suspect they are heavily infested (lots of yawning, twitching, and scratching) otherwise, I will give them a few days to settle in and then begin my prophylactic treatments. I treat all fish with general cure and either copper or CP regardless of symptoms.

But, I do think it mostly comes down to personal preference :) There’s not really a “right” or “wrong”...just an “I do” or “I don’t”
 

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