Longest Possible Safe FW Dip?

rastaangel · #1 11-22-2011, 05:28 PM

To date I have lost 2 achilles, 2 purples, a yellow, a powder blue and a hippo tang in QT, they were the only deaths in the QT all other fish survived. I have always gone to extreme lenghts to stop any parasites in my DT and QT every fish for 3 weeks min but as you can see from my list thats alot of dead fish and lotsa gone money...
So my question is how many of you just FW dip a fish then drop it into your display? How long do you dip? I have always done a 5 min dip before they go into the QT, but I have read anything less then 20-25 min or until the fish is in danger isnt doing a good enough job...
IF I decide to pick up another tang that would be my plan of attack

jorjef · #2 11-22-2011, 05:36 PM

Just curious, how big is your QT tank and is it just an empty glass box or is there some PVC etc. for fish to take cover in ? Again just curious not implying anything..

rastaangel · #3 11-22-2011, 05:39 PM

40g QT with lotsa hidding places, both PVC and chisled out dead rock. All of those tangs were seperate occasions, never at the same time. I have never had more then 3-5 fish in QT at once

fishoholic · #4 11-22-2011, 06:41 PM

The longest FW dip I did was 7min, then it looked like it was going to kill my fish so I pulled him out quick. 5min in a FW dip is a long time for a SW fish IMO.

rayjay · #5 11-22-2011, 06:45 PM

I dip the seahorses for 12 minutes unless they become completely unresponsive to touching them.
For other fish I've not had to do any since I got into seahorses so I don't know if they can go that long.

Funky_Fish14 · #6 11-22-2011, 07:15 PM

I've seen a yellow tang in FW tank for 30 mins once. Have frequently seen FW dip of 10-20 mins.

rastaangel · #7 11-22-2011, 10:21 PM

I have done 10 min on fish that had a bad fluke problem but never more then that... Just wondering if anyone else does much longer?
I still dont know if im even gonna both with another or risk a possible outbreak in my tank.

fishytime · #8 11-22-2011, 11:05 PM

Ive always felt that QTing a tang in a small tank is a bad idea......typically tangs do not ship/ move well,.......plus they are stress magnets and are claustrophobic.... so one could imagine what tangs sometimes go through when we buy them..........first they are netted, put in a small bag and shaken up, completely in the dark for anywhere from 1 - 3 days.....then they are put into a LFS environment, which if QTed, means being treated chemically in a small tank before being netted again and moved out to be put on display.....being on display usually means a smallish tank with little to no live rock for comfort and high volumes of people walking by and pressing their noses up against the tank.......then someone buys the fish, so it is netted and bagged again.....we take them home and freshwater dip it and stick it into yet another small tank for a couple more weeks......then we net it again and put it in our tank.......thats a lot of stress in a relatively short amount of time for a fish that doesnt take stress too well

rastaangel · #9 11-22-2011, 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fishytime

Ive always felt that QTing a tang in a small tank is a bad idea......typically tangs do not ship/ move well,.......plus they are stress magnets and are claustrophobic.... so one could imagine what tangs sometimes go through when we buy them..........first they are netted, put in a small bag and shaken up, completely in the dark for anywhere from 1 - 3 days.....then they are put into a LFS environment, which if QTed, means being treated chemically in a small tank before being netted again and moved out to be put on display.....being on display usually means a smallish tank with little to no live rock for comfort and high volumes of people walking by and pressing their noses up against the tank.......then someone buys the fish, so it is netted and bagged again.....we take them home and freshwater dip it and stick it into yet another small tank for a couple more weeks......then we net it again and put it in our tank.......thats a lot of stress in a relatively short amount of time for a fish that doesnt take stress too well

You make a valid point, but you missed the nail LOL
I have a large QT, bigger then most peoples displays so its not like im sticking a 6" tang in a empty 20g. My QT is full of rock and what not to try to relieve stress yet every single tang I buy dies on me weither it was a fresh import or was held in there system for a month

doch · #10 11-23-2011, 12:17 AM

I think that the nail was hit directly. A 40gal tank is way too small for any tang, and this is part of the point that Fishytime is trying to make. Tangs need space to move. If they don't have enough room to swim, this may add to the other stresses of the capture and relocation. I tend to agree with him. The less stress the better for them. I've been looking for a powder blue for quite some time now, but haven't found one that looks healthy enough, and has been in an LFS long enough for me to grab.