Can Live Rock carry ich?

[NexDog]

The reason I ask is because a week ago I bought some LR at a local store. It was in a tank that had a divider down the middle. On the left was the rock and on the right were some fish.......

I went back to the store today and on the left is still some LR and on the right is just one fish - a Coral Beauty covered in Ich. I'm pretty sure the same fish was in there last week (this LFS only gets one shipment a month at best). So what's the likelihood that the LR I purchased last week carried Ich? The 2 fish in my main display aren't showing any signs of Ich but they tough little fish.

[tanker]

I can, but unlikely. Ick is in the water but will not live long without a host. EX: If you take LR from a tank with Ick and put it into a tank without ICK, yes you can introduce it to the new tank, But if the same LR and put it into a container of SW for a week or so and then put it into tank the ICK would have died without a host to feed.

[NexDog]

So if there was Ich in the tank last week, I guess the question is if there was Ich on the rock that I bought. Because it was only a 20 minute ride from shop to bag to tank.....

[Reefmaniac1]

It's possible. The free-swimming/bottom dwelling stages can last for several weeks.

[dchao]

Originally posted by tanker
I can, but unlikely. Ick is in the water but will not live long without a host. EX: If you take LR from a tank with Ick and put it into a tank without ICK, yes you can introduce it to the new tank, But if the same LR and put it into a container of SW for a week or so and then put it into tank the ICK would have died without a host to feed. You are saying that *one* week is enough to leave the tank fallow after an ich infection?

[NexDog]

Ah shiiii-eee--ttt :worried: :worried: :worried:

[Reefmaniac1]

Four to six weeks is the minimum that I would recommend. As I stated above, the free-swimming/bottom dwelling stages can live for several weeks.

[NexDog]

So am I screwed?

[Reefmaniac1]

Maybe. It's hard to say, really. Just because there was Ich in that particular tank, doesn't mean that any of the parasite were actually on the rock itself. Generally, once the parasite leaves the fish, they swim straight down to the substrate (sand) where they multiply bazillion-fold. But, that doesn't mean that there's none there, either. You could do a 10 minute fresh water dip on the rock (assuming you haven't already placed it in the tank).

[NexDog]

Yea, it's in the tank and been there for over a week. Also the shop tank is bare-bottom.....

I mean, I've never heard stories of people quarantining LR and the freshwater dip would give you dead rock....

[Jimsmowen]

Hmm, the freshwater dip wouldnt give you deadrock... less salt for wat 20 seconds isnt going to kill your rock is it? I am no expert but I doubt it, I think the whole point of the dip is so anything on or in the LR will do a runner to try find SW I suppose.

Anyway As I said I am no expert so dont believe me!!

Oh I wash my live rock with fresh water and a brush before I put it in the tank everytime!

[NexDog]

Big difference between 20 seconds and 10 minutes. ;)

[Reefmaniac1]

10 minutes will kill the parasite...they will swell up an burst like an overfilled balloon. The dip won't kill everything on the rock either, but yes, you will get some die off.

[NexDog]

I'm in need of Live Rock immediately and this place is the only place with it. I'll do the 10 min freshwater dip but does that kill caraline too?

[tanker]

Originally posted by dchao
You are saying that *one* week is enough to leave the tank fallow after an ich infection?

No, not ONE week- A few weeks.
Must have been tired, I just read my original answer. :confused:

[tanker]

Originally posted by NexDog
I'll do the 10 min freshwater dip but does that kill caraline too?

It should not kill it, but slow it's growth for a while, but with good calcium and light will grow back quickly.

[Absint Reefer]

so in order to prevent live rock from spreading disease you should freshwater dip the rock before introducing it to your tank?

[NexDog]

I'm kind of worried because I'm just setting up a 50 gallon and I want to make sure it stays clean. But I need the water anyway so I guess there's no point in dipping all the rock. Guess it's just fingers crossed on that. If I ever do see Ich in the main tank, I have enough tanks to be able to QT the fish and move the inverts.

[Reefmaniac1]

Originally posted by Carson Lee
so in order to prevent live rock from spreading disease you should freshwater dip the rock before introducing it to your tank?

If the rock has been kept for several weeks (ie, curing) in tanks that don't have fish, and aren't attached to any that contain fish, then you don't have any worries. If it was in a tank with fish, then the 10 minute dip can't hurt.

[joseney21]

i believe to be sure you don't introduce ick to your tank you must quarantine everything for the same amount of time treatment is recommended for fish i.e. 40 days (just my opinion, i don't want ich again).i read a post where someone stated that an article suggested that even 18 hours after doing a fw dip ick was still present on the host without even moving, maybe it was just hyposalinity though....don't quite remember.

[McBeck]

Folks, FW dipping your live rock is bad news. You may not kill everything, but you sure as heck are going to kill a lot more than you want to. FW dips don't know the "good" guys from the "bad" guys and are much like a bomb in their destruction.

It's not as if the FW says, "seek out and destroy the ich, but leave behind all things beneficial." If it were that easy, fish would have already invented their own cure for ich & we could eat ice cream for breakfast everyday. ;)

If you plan to FW dip your rock, don't bother paying the extra $$ for LR. It's a waste. Quarantine and (dare I say it?!?) PATIENCE are what you need, not FW dips.

You should be QT'ing the rock anyway as you should be curing it outside the display tank to avoid cycling the tank.

[NexDog]

Okay, I think I'll just move everything to my 50g this weekend and then use the QT the new rock in the 20 for 6 weeks. This patience thing sucks. ;)

[McBeck]

:lmao: Good luck, you're doing the right thing!

[NexDog]

In fact what I'm going to do is just move the fish and hypo all of them in the 50 (because I'm adding 2 new fish). Leave all the rock and inverts in the 20 for the period and then in 6 weeks I'll have a clean display for sure. :)