Bath Treatment (Fishkeeping)

Bath treatments are simple disease treatments for aquarium and pond fish that date back to the earliest days of goldfish keeping. The best known form is the salt bath, which is effective at eliminating ciliated parasites, such as the organism that causes ich, from affected fish. Treatments can range from a brief dip to an extended soak lasting twenty four hours or longer, and beyond salt, keepers have used substances such as potassium permanganate, ionic copper, metronidazole, formalin, and various synthetic antiparasitic agents and organic dyes to treat parasitic and fungal infections. Not every remedy tried in bath treatments works: some approaches using antibiotics or vitamins in a bath are considered ineffective and are not recommended.