[baobao]

Lee,

I know that the prescribed treatment for marine ich is hypo or copper. Does a FW dip also effective? (Does it alleviate by partially dislodging trophants?)

Along the same lines, if you are treating fish afflicted by either velvet/ich, and medicating w/ copper, does it make sense to also conduct the FW dip procedure?

[leebca]

The FW dip doesn't cure fish of either Marine Ich nor Marine Velvet. (Cryptocaryon irritans Amyloodinium ocellatum respectively).

Both Marine Ich and Marine Velvet favor their first attack on the fish's gills. The gill mucous membrane is thinner than the fish skin's membrane. More water passes over the gills of the fish than over their body, so the gills become prime targets.

What the FW dip can do is help the fish in the gill area. The microbes are more readily exposed there and can be stressed to the point of dislodging or dieing from a FW dip. It's just (unfortunately) not a 'sure thing' when it comes to a needed cure.

Marine Velvet is particularly sensitive to the FW and even when in the mucous layer of the fish can be stressed or even killed more than Marine Ich.

So I use the FW dip for fish with these two diseases as follows:

I FW dip fish with Marine Ich when the fish is having a significant difficulty with respiration.

I FW dip fish that I suspect of having a Marine Velvet infection. I identify the microbes from the dip bath through a microscope.

FW dips won't help in the cure of these parasites. In the case of Marine Ich and Marine Velvet, it may help the fish breath easier. That's about all the value you can get from the FW dip of fish with these diseases. The final cure will be as you wrote -- the traditional treatments.