Length of ich cycle in an empty tank

[madrhino]

Hey guys,
I have a 125 with a lion fish that got ich. I removed him and have successfully treated him (I believe) in a QT for three weeks. I was wondering how long I should wait before i add him back to the main tank to make sure the ich cycle has finished without a host.

Thanks!

 

[brokekyle]

7 weeks

 

[brokekyle]

that is.. 7 weeks from the time you pulled all the fish from the tank

 

[Anonymous]

is this true for all new (assuming it's new) setups? what's the ideal period of cycling before adding any livestock?

 

[Lynn]

From what I've read ....28 days

 

[reefNewbie]

I thought ich cycles were 3 weeks long.

 

[Clark]

28 days sounds right but I have to shove my opinion from the uv sterilizer post at you again...

I tend to maintain the belief that all fish carry ich..and that stress in the tank usually causes it to manifest itself...Find the source of the stress and cure the ich..usually temp..tank heating up in the day time and cooling off at night...also shifting ph brings ich to the surface..I have had some very serious ich infections and have managed to survive them..just by locating the source of the fish stress..could be as simple as another fish picking on it..

My bet is temp..check it in the morning right before the lights come on. Then check it again right before the lights go off..if it shifts more than a few of degrees 3 or 4 that is most likely your problem..

I never ever treat ich..I always look for the cause! The stress of moving the fish to a new environment is often worse than the ich..as long as the fish eats and in other ways stay healthy the ich will most likely go away on its own..

 

[Anonymous]

Feeding with garlic helps too!

 

[CraigLampe]

As far as time of cycling, I would have some Live Rock in there and then about 2 weeks later begin adding very few Hardy livestock, if they fourish then begin adding other things slowly, it usually varies depending on how good your live rock is, if your are getting live rock and live sand from LFS, it is possible that you will NOT HAVE TO CYCLE THIS, it may be "cured" already...

on the other hand, if you get mail-order live rock it has a tendency to have quite a bit of die off... and you want to let it do its thing without any animals to kill!!

 

[brokekyle]

sorry my mistake.. it's 6 weeks.. and do your own research..

took me 5 min to verify 6 weeks do a search for cryptocaryon irritans