New Fish Overnight Shipping - Acclimation Question: Immediate 'Prophylactic' Methylene Blue Bath?

[Pepper Reefer]

Hello,
I am receiving my first two fish from Dr. Reef, a Royal Gramma and a Red Firefish Goby this coming week

I have been reading many posts from reefers like Humble Fish, Jay Hemdal, HotRocks (and others!) talking about doing a Methylene Blue bath on new fish, especially those that are coming from being shipped cross country that are more likely to be exposed to ammonia/nitrite poisoning.

Have you ever done a Methylene Blue bath for a new fish 'prophylactically' --- or do you wait to see signs of gills inflammation / bacterial / fungal infection / fin damage before doing a Methylene Blue bath?
From everything I have read, it doesn't seem like the Methylene Blue bath has any negatives to it, where it can only possibly help

I guess I don't understand why everyone doesn't do a Methylene Blue bath for their new fish, if it can only help?

If you do a Methylene Blue bath, would there be any downside to doing it immediately, as the first container the fish enters after removing it from the bag?
(as long as the Methylene Blue saltwater bath perfectly matched the salinity that it was shipped in!)

or is it better to acclimate the fish, let them recover (and hopefully eat!) before doing the first Methylene Blue bath?
It seems like it would really help to do it immediately, in case that there are issues of ammonia/nitrite toxicity, to intervene immediately - but at the same time I don't want to stress out the fish with a bath treatment right away after having endured the stress of shipping!

Any advice / experience with Methylene Blue would be very much appreciated
Thank you!

P.S: I know that it will stain my hands, the acrylic in the tank, surfaces, clothes, and even 3 years from now random stains may show up!

 

[Pepper Reefer]

bump

 

[snorklr]

why dont you ask Dr Reef his opinion?

 

[Jekyl]

The fish from Dr reef are supposed to be disease free on arrival. Ask the salinity that their fish are kept and have an observation tank ready at the same levels. Transfer fish to new tank once temp acclimated. Do not drip or add water or open the the bag the fish come in until ready to transfer. Ammonia will rise rapidly once air is introduced.

 

[Pepper Reefer]

The fish from Dr reef are supposed to be disease free on arrival. Ask the salinity that their fish are kept and have an observation tank ready at the same levels. Transfer fish to new tank once temp acclimated. Do not drip or add water or open the the bag the fish come in until ready to transfer. Ammonia will rise rapidly once air is introduced.

I'm more worried about the ammonia / nitrite toxicity having been shipped overnight in a bag, to preemptively treat with Methylene Blue (not so much any bacterial / fungal infections!)

I've seen a lot of people post about how their fish may have arrived in weak condition or died after a few days; I was thinking that by doing a Methylene Blue bath you can mitigate any potential damage to gills, and increase the odds of survival

 

[Pepper Reefer]

why dont you ask Dr Reef his opinion?

That's a good idea - I'll ask what he thinks (too!) via email before shipping.

 

[ca1ore]

FWIW, I always used nitrofuracin green powder (which includes methylene blue as an ingredient) on all new arrivals no matter ‘assurances’ from the source that they’d be disease free.

 

[Pepper Reefer]

FWIW, I always used nitrofuracin green powder (which includes methylene blue as an ingredient) on all new arrivals no matter ‘assurances’ from the source that they’d be disease free.

I planned on doing a 2 week observation, just in case (and some freshwater dips to check for flukes!)
also considering doing prazi just in case there are/were resistant flukes

When you treat new arrivals with nitrofuracin, how do you go about it?
Do you drop them in an observation tank matched to shipping salinity and then dose nitrofuracin to that tank (and after how long / do you give them time to acclimate)?
Or do you drop them in a tank that already has nitrofuracin in it immediately?

 

[ca1ore]

Observation tank matched to shipping salinity. Single dose of NFG added just prior to floating bags. Found it very helpful as a salve for potential ammonia shipping burn.

 

[Pepper Reefer]

Observation tank matched to shipping salinity. Single dose of NFG added just prior to floating bags. Found it very helpful as a salve for potential ammonia shipping burn.

Cool! Thank you for your advice Ca1ore
based on this, it seems like there would be no problem doing a 30 minute Methylene Blue bath initially; where I can have a quarantine tank matching shipping salinity, highly aerated, with Methylene Blue @1 teaspoon per 5 gallons
as per https://humble.fish/community/index.php?threads/methylene-blue.23/
float bags, and then after 30 minute bath transfer to my observation tank at same salinity

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I would ask Dr. Reef - You always want to follow the shipper's instructions for any aspect of their guarantee.

I don't use methylene blue as a dip for incoming fish. If you do try it, bear in mind that there is a specific concentration that should be used. 1-3 ppm is the typical dose, but that depends on the concentration of the stock solution you are using. The ancient advice of "add some to turn the water blue" shouldn't be followed, it is far to imprecise.

If you have methylene blue powder, 0.76 grams in 100 ml of RODI water makes a stock solution where 1 ml of that per gallon of water is equal to 2 ppm.

Here is a link to my general acclimation article:

Acclimation Methods

Acclimating Animals to Aquariums Jay F. Hemdal c.2020 Introduction to acclimation techniques Most beginning aquarists hear that they must “acclimate” any new animals they add to their aquarium. Acclimation (sometimes termed...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

 

[Pepper Reefer]

I would ask Dr. Reef - You always want to follow the shipper's instructions for any aspect of their guarantee.

I don't use methylene blue as a dip for incoming fish. If you do try it, bear in mind that there is a specific concentration that should be used. 1-3 ppm is the typical dose, but that depends on the concentration of the stock solution you are using. The ancient advice of "add some to turn the water blue" shouldn't be followed, it is far to imprecise.

If you have methylene blue powder, 0.76 grams in 100 ml of RODI water makes a stock solution where 1 ml of that per gallon of water is equal to 2 ppm.

Here is a link to my general acclimation article:

Acclimation Methods

Acclimating Animals to Aquariums Jay F. Hemdal c.2020 Introduction to acclimation techniques Most beginning aquarists hear that they must “acclimate” any new animals they add to their aquarium. Acclimation (sometimes termed...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

Thanks Jay!
Reading your guide:
>Aquarists must monitor the changing water chemistry values in the acclimation container throughout the process, and adjust the flow rate accordingly. One trick is to place a few drops of methylene blue liquid per gallon of water in the acclimation container. Not only does this have some antibiotic affect, and can help with oxygen transfer, as new water flows into the acclimation container, the aquarist can judge the amount of mixing by the dilution of the blue color over time.

Very interesting! Good to know as an option, instead of a heavier concentration bath
I will also ask Dr. Reef and get his advice on best practices re: Methylene Blue for new arrivals / and in regards to his guarantee

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks Jay!
Reading your guide:
>Aquarists must monitor the changing water chemistry values in the acclimation container throughout the process, and adjust the flow rate accordingly. One trick is to place a few drops of methylene blue liquid per gallon of water in the acclimation container. Not only does this have some antibiotic affect, and can help with oxygen transfer, as new water flows into the acclimation container, the aquarist can judge the amount of mixing by the dilution of the blue color over time.

Very interesting! Good to know as an option, instead of a heavier concentration bath
I will also ask Dr. Reef and get his advice on best practices re: Methylene Blue for new arrivals / and in regards to his guarantee

HA! I need to clarify that! I actually only use it for the dye effect.

Thanks for the heads up.

Jay