How Long Can Ich Live ?

[mallyk]

I had an ich outbreak in my 75 gallon back in November. Even though I QT'ed the fish for 4 weeks, they still got it after I added them to the main system.

The only thing besides coral in the tank is 2 cleaner shrimp.

Back at the beginning of December, I increased the temperature in the tank to 80'-81'F thinking that may help speed the cycle up.

Anyway, The tank has been fishless since November, and it's now the end of January, and I can still see ich on the glass.

I thought ich was supposed to die within 4-5 weeks without any fish to host??

Any ideas when It may go away or tips on speeding up the process??

Thanks~

[arizona tech]

6-8 weeks for it to die out, do you have fish in qt, ready to go into the main tank?I dont think you can see ick with the eye only the stage where the parasite is going to fall off the fish

[mallyk]

I thought you could see it? :confused:

There are these tiny little whitish clear bugs on the glass, I can bearly see them until they move.

[Hattie B]

Hi Mallyk,

Arizonia is correct.

Swimming stage of ich is microscopic called the theront.

The parasite is called a trophont when you see it on your fish.

The 'white bugs' on you tank are possibily some sort of pod or other critter. maybe a hydriod of some sort. But not ich. =)

[luke33]

Yup, you can't see ick, but you are seeing copods, a good thing.

[mallyk]

Holy crap!! Really??? You guys just made my day then, because I thought it was ich!!!!

I have had a pair of clownfish patiently waiting in QT ready to go in the main tank but ive been holding off for months thinking that ich was still there! They will be happy to hear the news then!

[seahorse31]

We have a 55 gallon reeftank and had a healthy coral beauty angel, 6 line wrasse, 2 small clownfish, 6 small chromis, 2 shrimp and added a collare butterfly which looked fine at the store and the next day had ick. Despite lowering salinity to 1.016 and temp increase to 80 and treating for 11 days so far with Kick Ick, all fish have died except the chromis. We are heartbroken, but have learned that quarantining is a must! (we took fish out and treated with copper, but they died in there too). I can't catch the chromis to put them in the hospital tank with copper.
Now, can anyone tell me after the chromis die off, how long is it safe to wait to add new fish? Do I use my lights meanwhile for the live rock? I have no corals.

[fishii]

Seahorse, I definitely can relate. I battled ich for 2 months last year. Finally in mid october, I broke the tank all down, and put my only surviving fish, a foxface, in a qt tank. I heard 4-6 weeks is good to leave the main tank fallow. So I left it completely empty from mid Oct to January -- over two months-- that for sure would do it! I put the perfectly healthy fish back in the main tank, and after a week, the fish had ich again! How could this be ? I've heard and now believe that fish carry ich with them dormantly... there is no way to really be completely rid of it.

[arizona tech]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9092014#post9092014 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fishii
Seahorse, I definitely can relate. I battled ich for 2 months last year. Finally in mid october, I broke the tank all down, and put my only surviving fish, a foxface, in a qt tank. I heard 4-6 weeks is good to leave the main tank fallow. So I left it completely empty from mid Oct to January -- over two months-- that for sure would do it! I put the perfectly healthy fish back in the main tank, and after a week, the fish had ich again! How could this be ? I've heard and now believe that fish carry ich with them dormantly... there is no way to really be completely rid of it. how did you treat the foxface for ick? me to i believe fish do carry ick to some degree

[Hattie B]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9092014#post9092014 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fishii
Seahorse, I definitely can relate. I battled ich for 2 months last year. Finally in mid october, I broke the tank all down, and put my only surviving fish, a foxface, in a qt tank. I heard 4-6 weeks is good to leave the main tank fallow. So I left it completely empty from mid Oct to January -- over two months-- that for sure would do it! I put the perfectly healthy fish back in the main tank, and after a week, the fish had ich again! How could this be ? I've heard and now believe that fish carry ich with them dormantly... there is no way to really be completely rid of it.

Fishii,

Sorry to say but you are completely wrong. Ich is a parasite. Think of it like fleas, not all sogs have fleas.

THe problem is you let you main tank stay fallow (good)

Bad thing is you did NOT cure you FF before you put him back in it.

You use a QT to treat fish and get rid of the parasite right, then after the fish is healthy and clear of the parasite you continue on eith the QT before you out him back in the tank at least 4 more weeks

You need to make sure he is healthy before he is added. not jsut a fallow tank.

I run many tanks, many more tanks then what I listed and none of my fish have ich. When i purchased some, yes they did, but after treatment no more and not since.

HATTIE B

[fishii]

AZ tech and HB,

The way I 'treated' the FF was just to physically put him in the QT tank. Something about the QT tank must have magical powers, because I didn't add any medications. From the moment I put him in, the white specks vanished, and I never saw even a hint of a white spec on him since. So I assumed he was "cured" or "treated." AZ, I'm not so sure how to clear the parasite. I assume that if after a month of seeing absolutely no white specs, that he was cured. Is this not true ? If a fish once had ich, but then has no more spots, must he still be cured with copper, etc ?

[Sk8r]

copepods are a good thing, free fish food and free algae cleaners: the more pods you have, the more your algae stays under control.

Ich is invisible to the human eye. My private theory is that corals help out by eating it: its freeswimming form falls within their food-size-range. All of which bears out my other theory: the live-er your tank, the healthier, all up and down the food chain.