ICH re-establishment

[pwake7]

Well i lost my clowns and tang this week. How long do you wait to get new fish. whats the process to restarting new fish in the tank? How do i know that this ich ###### is gone?

[SeeDemTails]

Their has to be something in the tank fueling the ich....healthy fish dont die of ich.

[chrisstie]

I believe the recommended course of action is to leave the tank fallow (no fish) for 6-8 weeks. Since ich is parasitic it will eventually die off without fish to feed on.

 

Very sorry for your loss

[Six]

leaving the tank fallow isnt going to do anything. it isnt that there's parasites all over the tank, its that the tank is allowing normally occuring parasites to infect the fish.

 

Ich doesnt kill fish unless there is a major issue with water quality and stress. think about it. would you get sick if you were in a bad environment (pollution, waste, etc) and stressed out? Yes. Would you get sick in a cleaner, well kept and relaxed environment? No. Not many fish issues can corralate with human life.... but disease and how it affects life is one of them.

 

GL

6

[SeeDemTails]

I like the way you think six.

[Six]

I just know that sometimes we forget that an aquarium is totally under our care. If there's a drama on TV we change the channel, when there is drama in our tanks we try to press the button and change or forget there isnt one. No easy ways out when it comes to disease. You just have to get involved in the drama and know the next act.

 

Just know how to prevent any issues and you'll never have any. That's a good suggestion for life too.

[Venetia]

I had kind of the same question as the original poster. A couple months ago I got a clown that had ich. Because I had been sick I missed a couple water changes and both my blenny and clown developed it. I know the ich came in on the clown cause I went back to petco and all their clowns had ich. Anyway, my Blenny died Feb. 8th and the clown on the 6th. I tried everything to save them, even borrowed a cleaner wrasse from a friend. So as of today it's been a month. I have been doing reg. water changes and my water test perfect. I want to get another blenny and another clown. Is it safe to go ahead and get them now? Or should I wait longer?

[SeeDemTails]

You can probably add a fish, just not from petco.

[NippySan]

does everything include doing the water changes you missed? that's probably all you needed to do.

 

please stop buying fish from petco. they sell dog food and know nothing of fish husbandry. i dont care what petco you go to, they invest no time or effort into thier aquariums and should be ignored at all costs.

[dla]

If I remember right Ick is always in the tank. It has 2 or 3 stages that it goes thru. That is why one day you see it on your fish any the next day you don't, then it will come back with more. The time to use meds. if you plan on it is when you don't see them on your fish.

[reefdan]

i would still leave it fallow. even with healthy fish, the ich will try to attack. i've lose a few fish this way.

 

if you add fish, you're risking killing it and having the ich stay strong in your tank.

 

while it is true that ich and other parasites are always in a tank, providing them a host will only allow them to reproduce.

[GMich]

Hello - hate to start a new thread on the same issue. Tank setup since Nov. 06 went fine with a Royal Gramma, Blennie and a Damsel. Added a Coral Beauty. CB got ick first, then RG. Had to remove Damsel because I think he was also stressing the two. Both are gone. Next, waited 5 weeks, increased temp to 80, slowly lowered salinity based on suggestions then tried adding a Royal and CB again, within 3 days, ick again. All of my parameters are fine with exception of Nitrate which hovers around 20. I setup a QT and tried removing the two, they didn't make it. Now, two weeks later I can see what I believe are the ick parasites all over the glass, etc. I plan to QT anything from now on however, how long should I wait and is there anything to treat the tank with (have Kent Marine Rx-P) in the meantime?

 

Doing weekly water changes...

 

Pictures #3 and 4 of what I can see via attached link is this a huge Ick outbreak 2 weeks later? - thanks for the help.

 

http://galameca.smugmug.com/gallery/2611718#137781394

 

My setup is a Biocube 29 running Sapphire Aquatics skimmer.

 

G

[idog]

leaving the tank fallow isnt going to do anything. it isnt that there's parasites all over the tank, its that the tank is allowing normally occuring parasites to infect the fish.

 

 

IME this is not the case. The crypt protozoan infects unnaffected fish while it is in its free swimming form. True it can always be found in most tanks. Leaving it fallow is simply to ensure that none of the crypt is free swimming at a time of introducing a new fish. It goes dormant should there be no fish present. If you merely wait for your parameters to stabilize, there may still be paracites present in free-swimming form, and new acclimations are always stressfull... Healthy fish should be unaffected, but new arrivals...

 

Of course it can always reamerge should your params slip and your fish are unhealthy. I am a firm advocate of allowing a tank to fallow after an outbreak for this reason. Not having fish also allows the tank to stabilize for a few weeks. It is merely a prudent thing to do under the circumstances.

 

Hey, it can't hurt right?