Freshwater Dip Question
Hi! <Hello! Ryan with you> I have a question about freshwater dipping. <I do it every morning after a cup of coffee...Oh! You mean with fish ;)  > We have a recently set up 55 gallon marine tank with 100 pounds of LS and 25 pounds of LR.  We have a royal Gramma that we got once the tank was well cycled.  This is in addition to 3 blue/green reef Chromis.  He seemed fine up until a couple of days ago and one of his eyes went cloudy and he's been scratching on a rock.  His side is a bit scratched up from this behavior.  I read through as much of the disease treatment and ID things and we decided to go with a freshwater dip since this seemed safer than any medications and we aren't even 100% sure of what it is so, we had no way of knowing what medication to choose even if we were going to pick one.  So we placed him in a pan of freshwater (acclimated to temp and pH to the best of our ability) and he kind of "passed out" but kept breathing.  He jumped out once....and then after 3 minutes, he appeared to completely stop breathing.  We placed him back into the regular tank right away and he's breathing but he's just laying there acting stunned.  Is this normal? <Hmmm...the word pan is a little scary to me.  Was this a metallic container?  That's not good.  You need an inert material, like plastic.  Otherwise, it sounds like you did your best.> I couldn't really find any info on fish behavior after dipping (sorry if its there and I couldn't find it).  The Chromis appear to be just fine with absolutely no symptoms.  We also have a little 3 gallon hang on the back refugium, I was wondering if it would be helpful for him to be up in there to recover away from the main tank with its rocks.  Or would netting him again just cause too much stress? Thanks!! <I would leave him alone at this point, the added stress may be more harmful at this point.  His condition may be a simple injury- Fish run into the rocks from time to time.  If more symptoms of disease surface, I'd start looking here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/quaranti.htm.  Good luck! Ryan>
Amy

Freshwater Dipping Part 2
Hi!  Thanks for the response. <No worries!> The "pan" was plastic...so never fear.  :) <So relieved!>
The next morning after I emailed you, the Gramma was looking great...in fact better than he ever has since we got him.  He actually ventured out into the tank and was swimming around instead of hanging inside the opening of his cave.  We thought maybe (even though it was stressful) we must have done something to help him.  BUT, he's still scratching on the rocks.  SO....we decided to try to dip again...and this time we were EXTREMELY hypervigilent about the pH and we also added Methylene blue.  <Great- I'm sure that if there is a parasite here the Methylene Blue would bring it out>  He tolerated the dip much better this time, but during the dip we could see what look like little white parasites coming up out of his gills and one up out from underneath the scales on his back near his dorsal fin..<Gotcha- A typical LFS malady> ..so I definitely think we're dealing with some kind of problem.  He's back in the tank now and looking well, his eye is no longer cloudy.  Unfortunately, we don't have a quarantine tank (I know, we should)  I think perhaps we may need to invest in one since we think he definitely has some sort of parasite. <Well, the parasite will soon populate in all your fish.  Freshwater dipping is going to drive them out, but only removing the parasites that are on the fish at that time.  It's going to be a long, nasty battle unless you quarantine.  Let's see- You've spent hundreds or thousands on your display tank- But you want to save 10 bucks on a 10 gallon tank?  This is an economic issue as well! ;)  Good luck, Ryan>
Thanks for the help!
Amy :)

Freshwater Dipping pt. 3
I just emailed you to let you know that we are getting a quarantine tank. <I knew the money analogy would get ya! Ryan back with you>
So sorry to bug you, but can I ask you 1 more question. <Sure> I searched through lots of pages on the web site and couldn't find anything specific to this.
Since the Methylene blue seemed to be helpful in drawing out the parasites during the dip...can it be used as a med in the Qtank? <It can, but the correct dosage of Formalin may do the job better.  I'd continue with the freshwater dips, and daily until all symptoms are gone.  Then, give him at minimum 2 weeks before returning him to the display.  Wonderful to see you becoming a better steward for marine life!  Ryan>
Thanks!
Amy