FW Dip & Acclimation

[rays]

hi, i'm new in this forum, i'm using MB but in powder no in liquid. may i know the dosage like how many mg for how many litres of tap water. because all these times i just guess it, not really measure it. and should i straightly mix the sodium bicarbonet? or just mix it when i want to use it?

[leebca]

WELCOME TO REEFLAND!

It would be better if you don't use tap water. It would be better if you used distilled water.

You want to make up a 2.2% solution. To do this, put 2.2 g of the powder into 100 ml of pure water.

I don't know the powder you are using, but it must be a zinc-free powder.

Prepare a fresh bath at the right pH using sodium bicarbonate to adjust the pH for each fish, (up to an hour) before you use it. Check the pH on the bath just before (a minute or two) before you put the fish into it.

Feel free to ask any questions you may have.

[rays]

thanks for replying lee, i would like to know what is science sign for zinc? because i'm not scientist myself.

what is the most suitable PH for these kind of quarantine?

this morning i just lost my maroon clown. i usually dip them to MB for a while then i pack them back with a little bit nitrofuran. is it harmful? some of my fish i using malachite green mix with formalin for overnight. please give me advice if i'm wrong. thanks.

[leebca]

I moved these posts to their own thread.

The pH of the quarantine tank should be about the same pH of the display tank, unless you have reasons to change that. There are some reason to change the pH of the quarantine tank (QT) to the pH of the bag water the fish came.

I hope you can read English well enough. There are many things here in Reefland to read to get a better understanding of how to acclimate a new fish to your marine system. Start with this reference and then read the other references linked in this link: It Was Acclimation, I know. . .

The chemical notation for zinc is Zn

Treating fish with formalin has to be done very carefully. Formalin is a poison not only to the parasites/diseases, but also to the fish. The pH has to be stabilized, the fish has got to have extra air, etc., etc. I recommend not doing the formalin treatment 'overnight.' I also recommend you stop treating the fish with the other chemicals you listed. I believe that only sick fish should be treated.

What you want to do is quarantine new fishes and just watch them. Have Formalin and other medications on hand, if you want/need to, but don't use them.

Then, when such medications are needed, get proper instructions on how to use the medication AFTER you get a good diagnosis of the condition of the fish.

[rays]

thanks for the reply lee. these few days i found that my naso tang have white spot. does naso have white spot too? because i keep the naso very long time and never saw white spot on it before. and my fireclown, there something odd about it. it had like a white molusk on it's body. i don't know what it is. can i cure it? and does maroon clown can't resist copper? my copper is 0.3 ppm. my PH is 8.3 and my salinity 1.020. ammonia 0, no2 0, no3 100 highrange. speaking of no3, does no3 keep on higher and higher? if not, how can i reduce it?

[leebca]

Your post is full of a lot of good questions. Some of your questions are covered in posts that go into your answer in much more detail. Again. . .I hope you will read.

Regarding nitrates: Fish can tolerate high nitrates. They are reduced by (chemical) filtration, water changes, and micro and macro algae. You should read this post: Nitrates - Origin & Controls

Copper comes in many forms. I'm not sure what kind of copper medication you are using and I might not be familiar with it anyway. However, you should read this post about copper: Copper - Treatment, Use, Problems

The thing about copper is how you measure its concentration during treatment and how safe it is for the fish. Copper is a poison to the fish. So, you don't want to make a mistake with it. Like the above post indicates, the safest form of copper IMHO is Cupramine. I don't know if this is available to you or not.

Almost all marine fish can get infected by Marine Ich. More reading on Marine Ich is here: Marine Ich - Myths and Facts

Marine Ich can remain hidden to the hobbyist because it likes the gills of the fish best. Also, a new fish put into the aquarium can bring Marine Ich with it, unless a diligent quarantine is performed.

The thing on the fish's body is most like a copepod or amphipod of some sort. If it is very large, then the fish is sedated with an anesthetic and the organism is removed IF it will come off easily. Some pods dig deep into the fish and their removal would/could mean the death of the fish.

For those that don't come off physically as suggested above, there are chemical treatment that kill the pods and do minimal damage to the fish. Such medications include chemicals known as organophosphates. I don't know what medications you have available to you, so I can't recommend anything more specific.

The above is about the best I can answer your questions with.

[rays]

thanks for replying lee, sorry for late reply. i have another problem to be solve, many of my tang is skinny or whatever you call. i usually treat it with piperazine citrate mix with tap water. and then i just pour it to where i quarantine the tang. is the piperazine not good or it just my way to treat the tang is wrong? so what can you recommend me to treat skinny fish. thanks for the answer.

[leebca]

First, we have to agree on what 'skinny' means. A fish is 'skinny' if the dorsal side (top part) of the fish is thin. This is where a fish stores its extra energy in the form of protein and lipids (fats). The bottom part of the fish is where its guts are located. When the bottom of the fish is thin, all that means is that the fish isn't eating.

So if the fish is thin on top, it needs to get the proper foods and fed the proper nutrition according to this post: Feeding Marine Fish and Fish Nutrition

If the fish is thin because it has been infected or is infected with internal (intestinal) parasites, then the fish should be de-wormed. Piperazine is one medication for de-worming. It is fairly good for roundworms. I would prefer using a medicine that is meant to be eaten rather than one in the water, for treating internal parasites. I think you can probably be better off using a combination of medications that are ingested to attack a variety of internal parasites, when you don't know exactly the type of parasite you are dealing with. You can get more information from here: Strange Excrement from Fish -or- How to be a Super Pooper Snooper

I'm unsure what medications are available to you in your location.

[rays]

thanks for the reply lee, all these time i'm wondering that butterfly easily get redened on it's body, i'm sure it's sick. i read the book that because of PH is low. is it true? do i have chance to cure it? about the cloudy eye, is it possible to cure it with simply dip it to water with MB?

[leebca]

The redness, sometime streaks sometimes a patch of what looks like a bloody area, is usually a sign of poor water quality, poor diet, or a combination of the two. It is usually because of poor water quality.

Although pH does figure into the 'water quality' it is not the thing that usually causes the condition. It is usually other things going wrong with the water. Your water should be checked for ammonia, nitrite, phosphate, magnesium, calcium, and alkalinity. After that, you should consider other water problems that are outlined in this post: What is Water Quality.

If the fish is really bad, it probably won't make it. Still, you need to fix the water quality and give the fish the proper nutrition if you want them to survive and if you want other fish to not get this condition.

Cloudy eye is usually a bacteria problem. One cloudy eye indicates poor water quality -- usually the water may have too many organics/proteins in the water. Do you use a protein skimmer on your system? If not, then you should either get one or use activated carbon to remove excess organics from the water.

Two cloudy eyes means poor water quality, poor nutrition, a disease, or any combination of these. Sometimes bacterial infections are secondary infections to other diseases. Sometimes the number of bacteria overcome a fish that isn't healthy. This means that the fish can't fend off the bacteria because there are too many bacteria, the fish is not nourished properly, the fish is in poor water quality, or any combination of these.

Curing bacterial infections is not too difficult. You have to move the fish to a hospital tank and treat the fish with antibiotics. The best antibiotics for marine fishes are the ones that treat Gram Negative bacteria. Most marine fish bacterial infections are Gram Negative. Again, I don't know what medications you have available to you.

A freshwater dip or bath will not cure a bacteria infection.

It sounds like much of what you are reporting is coming from water quality problems and food/nutrition problems.

[rays]

do you have any recommend antibiotics that treat gram negative bacteria? maybe i'll find one by one that you can recommend me in here. thanks again lee.

[leebca]

One of the products we use in North America is called Maracyn Two for Saltwater fish. It isn't the name of the antibiotic, it's the name of te product.

Antibiotics such as: Nitrofurazone and Kanamycin are okay. We find them in products here called Spectrogram.

[rays]

is nitrofuranzone is the same with nitrofurantine? can i ask you about peparazine solution contain of how much gram/100 ml? as my peparazine is in powder. i afraid i mix it not enough concentrate to kill the parasite.

[leebca]

I have not heard of nitrofurantine for use with fish. It has been used with poultry and farm animals. It is an antibiotic, but I don't how to apply it to fish.

I do not know how to use peparazine. Maybe someone else reading this post might offer directions.

Sorry I couldn't be of much help on this.

[rays]

hi lee, i would like to ask about cupramine. how many ml should i put in 1 gallon? what if i get in a powder? is it the same dosage with copper?

[leebca]

Cupramine is a brand name medication made by Seachem. You should also have a Seachem or (preferably) a Salifert Copper Test kit. Instructions come with the medication.

A powder is very ambiguous. There are a few dozen different copper compounds, most of which are not the best. So, I can't advise you on that.

[rays]

hi, i would like to ask about skinny fish again. yesterday i tried to mix blood worm and peparazine together and i tried on 3 fish of mine. the first 1 is clown surgeon, the body become normal but the face part still skinny. powder blue S size, after 5 minute then died. powder blue L size, the skin is burnt and died this morning. can i know what is the problem? is it the dosage too heavy? can u suggest something to me to do? thanks in advance.

[leebca]

It is challenging to help without a lot more information and having good photos. From your original posts and the recent posts the problem most likely is water quality and/or the misuse of some chemicals (which is also a type of water quality issue or ingestion problem).