[musho3210]

I was reading about this and it said you need to get the PH the same as the tank to prevent stress when moved around, would it be alright to use those ph adjusting chemicals for this since the water will only be used for however long the fish will be dipped

 

[Falina]

i would guess that would be fine as i think sometimes the problem with these chemicals is that they wear off after a while and so can cause inbalances but like i said thats just my guess.

what i was wondering thoguh, is why the water would be of a different ph anyway? i assume you fill your tank with tap water, which will have a ph or whatever it has, and then the water used for the dip is tap water also, no?

maybe im just being stupid by asking this, so correct me if i am

 

[fs49864]

hmmm... I would, some also suggest using a chemical to make ammonia not effect fish.
It shouldn't last very long so I'm not sure how important it is.

But at least my tap water is 7.2 and my tank water is 8.4 ph.

 

[usmc121581]

I would use the same PH balance stuff that you would use for the tank. I use seachem 8.3 for my PH and would do the same if I ever do a freshwater dip. Also I believe if it says for freshwater and saltwater "ON MOST THINGS" It isnt any good for saltwater.

 

[Falina]

But at least my tap water is 7.2 and my tank water is 8.4 ph.

ok ive concluded that i am just being stupid, but id still like to know...

why isnt your tank water the same as your tap water? surely if you fill it up with tap water itll be the same??

 

[usmc121581]

I never put tap water in my tank. Its bad for a saltwater tank. But thats me.

 

[leifthebunny]

But at least my tap water is 7.2 and my tank water is 8.4 ph.

ok ive concluded that i am just being stupid, but id still like to know...

why isnt your tank water the same as your tap water? surely if you fill it up with tap water itll be the same??

Depends on what is in your tank, oxygen levels, .... I have 7.0 tap and my tank is 6.6.

 

[Falina]

I never put tap water in my tank. Its bad for a saltwater tank. But thats me.

ive never had a saltwater tank so know nothing about them im afraid. what do you use then rather than tap water? im just interested

 

[musho3210]

you use RO water with a high quality salt mix, so you wont get unwanted phosphates and nitrates.

 

[Falina]

what is RO water?

 

[musho3210]

Reverse osmosis.

The question i first stated (to make things easier for you) was asking about a freshwater dip. A salt water fish is used to the osmotic pressure of saltwater obviously. When dipped in freshwater everything changes with the different amount of dissolved chemicals. Although the fish can live in it for a few minutes, it is great for external parasites and protozoans since although the fish can live in the freshwater for a bit, the parasites cant and die from osmotic stress. The safest way to carry this out is to have the freshwater have the same ph as the saltwater so when you move them back, so there is no ph shock.

 

[Falina]

ok i understand now i think. i dont think i ever plan on getting any saltwater fish in my lifetime, however, its still interesting to learn about them.

and in case you are wondering why i have posted a reply earlier when i clearly didnt understand what was going on, i clicked on it from the "5 most recent unanswered posts" section, rather than the saltwater section and totally neglected to read the saltwater part, and therefore just assumed we were talking about freshwater and that it was a ph question rather than a salt vs fresh water question - just thoguht id clarify that in case you (or anyone else for that matter) thoguht i was just randonly posting nonsense responses to other peoples questions

sorry for the mix up and thanks for explaining it to me

 

[Lupin]

some also suggest using a chemical to make ammonia not effect fish.

Low pH makes ammonia less toxic. Don't use pH down for this one as the effects are not permanent. Peat would be a better option along with almond leaves, driftwoods and CO2.

 

[fs49864]

Mine is just filtered tap, because thats all I can get right now.

 

[musho3210]

so can anyone answer my question? since the fish is only going to be in the dip for like 30 minutes or something, i dont think the PH will crash fast so is this alright?

 

[fs49864]

WOW! Fish can NOT go in a dip for 30 minutes!
30 minutes will probably kill your fish really it could be as short as 1 to 5 minutes.

 

[musho3210]

oh, glad i got that out of the way....

 

[Melissa]

i have heard dips should be anywhere from 5- 15 minutes.

 

[usmc121581]

WOW! Fish can NOT go in a dip for 30 minutes!
30 minutes will probably kill your fish really it could be as short as 1 to 5 minutes.

#0 mins wouldn't kill your fish. We as I mean the LFS I work at left to yellow striped maroons in a freshwater tank for over 2 hours. We didnt mean to to it got busy and forgot, they were fine.

 

[fs49864]

that's good to know, thanks for that information.
I guess it depends on each fish separately I would just watch your fish and see how it's acting. I think the one's I've done lasted about 4-5 minutes.