Hello everyone, I had a fish with ich in my system (40b w/ 15g sump). I removed the fish and now have no fish in the tank. I was wondering how long do I need to keep the tank fish less to end the problem? Is 4-6 weeks good or could it be sooner? Thank you, Danny.
Cycle of ich in tank w/ no fish
- Thread starter mheaven
- Start date
- Location
- Long Island NY
im not too experienced with this but this happened to me not too long ago,of course like anything, its a matter of opinion but i have heard and read that it could take up too 8 weeks for the parasite to die off. I think you may have to still put food in the tank when it is fallow but someone more experienced than I will help out on that.
- Location
- Long Island NY
and a word of advice, over shoot it by a week just to be sure. I didnt and the ich came back as soon as I added 2 fish.
- Location
- Bergen County, NJ
I would do 8 weeks minimum...
Kimilkwon,How you been?
no I have zero fish in the tank.
I did read the ich sticky on the fish sections and in the article it mentioned something about in 4 weeks with no fish it should be gone.
I hope the corals don't suffer due to the fact of no fish in the system for that long.
no I have zero fish in the tank.
I did read the ich sticky on the fish sections and in the article it mentioned something about in 4 weeks with no fish it should be gone.
I hope the corals don't suffer due to the fact of no fish in the system for that long.
Last edited:
good good, setting up a new tank. nice that ur back.
6-9 weeks, longer the better to make sure it will be gone.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptocaryon
6-9 weeks, longer the better to make sure it will be gone.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptocaryon
10-12 weeks will give you an almost 100% guarantee of no Ich.
DO add small amount of food to the tank as the bacteria needs it to stay alive. If you have shrimp or snails that you are feeding while the tank runs fishless - that should suffice.
DO add small amount of food to the tank as the bacteria needs it to stay alive. If you have shrimp or snails that you are feeding while the tank runs fishless - that should suffice.
- Location
- NY
I wouldn't go fishless for a day less than 8 weeks. At that point I'd do it similar to Kathy and go about 10 weeks just to be sure.
Russ
Russ
Yes I do have a cleaner shrimp, and I am feeding it.
I'm going to set up a qt tank in about 5 weeks and keep my new fish in them for 4 weeks that should give me 8 weeks with no fish in the system. Let's hope that would do. Thank you all for the replys.
I'm going to set up a qt tank in about 5 weeks and keep my new fish in them for 4 weeks that should give me 8 weeks with no fish in the system. Let's hope that would do. Thank you all for the replys.
- Location
- New Jersey
++1. This plus make sure the fish do not have ich when you add them back.
- Location
- Mt Sinai, NY
8 weeks won't be 100% ich free. Kathy knows her stuff. The longer the better.
If you qt without medicating, then at least 6 weeks in qt otherwise u risking ich again
If u use Cupramine to treat in qt then fish would be good to go in 3 weeks.
If you qt without medicating, then at least 6 weeks in qt otherwise u risking ich again
If u use Cupramine to treat in qt then fish would be good to go in 3 weeks.
- Location
- NY
Not understanding this. If you're already going to be 8 weeks fallow, why not insure the process and add only two more weeks to it? Seems like an awfully huge risk for zero return.
Russ
- Location
- upper west side manhattan
I will do about a month and a half to be safe that's how long I took when I had ich.
Reef Fixations
vendor
- Location
- South Hackensack, NJ
I've known people to go 12 weeks fallow and still ran into problems. Take your "new" seperate QT that you're going to setup and when you think your fish are fully QT'd after 4-6 weeks, take the most likely to be susceptible to ich like maybe a powder blue tang and add him to the newly setup system with water from your display that has been 12 weeks (minimum) fallow. Give him and/or any others you think are "ich magnets" and let them reside in there for 4 weeks or so. :::just in case I didn't say it right, do this with your current fish before buying more to put in the new QT:::
As you do that, slowly take down your copper/med levels in your QT that you currently have your fish in. As the level comes down, if they still have ich, it will become apparent after a few weeks or maybe even days.
I know people that have gone thru "near" religious practices of making sure there is no way they could have contaminated their DT, QT(s), RO/DI reservoir & premixed saltwater and still ended up with ich after 12 weeks of running fallow. In the end, it was believed that the fish were clean but ich was still in the DT. Don't hold me to the numbers but I believe @ 8 weeks you're at an 85% chance that you got rid of ich in the fallow DT, @ 10 weeks you have a 95% chance and after 12 weeks you've upped your chances to 99%. Obviously in a QT with meds you can cut that time down significantly; Unfortunately in a DT, patience is best and usually the only remedy.
The hardest part seems to be around the 12th week when people seem to have the idea that it is guaranteed that the issue has been irradicated and they move things a little too quickly into the DT especially when all of the fish in QT show no signs at all for months of going ich-free and we think the coast is clear.
Sounds like Kathy, Sunny Mbg, & Russ are offering the best advice in terms of going 2-3 times the amount of time to run fallow. It's not worth the 8 weeks to gamble and possibly start all over again especially when you're thinking about bringing other fish into the mix.
Best of luck and I hope it all works out for you!
As you do that, slowly take down your copper/med levels in your QT that you currently have your fish in. As the level comes down, if they still have ich, it will become apparent after a few weeks or maybe even days.
I know people that have gone thru "near" religious practices of making sure there is no way they could have contaminated their DT, QT(s), RO/DI reservoir & premixed saltwater and still ended up with ich after 12 weeks of running fallow. In the end, it was believed that the fish were clean but ich was still in the DT. Don't hold me to the numbers but I believe @ 8 weeks you're at an 85% chance that you got rid of ich in the fallow DT, @ 10 weeks you have a 95% chance and after 12 weeks you've upped your chances to 99%. Obviously in a QT with meds you can cut that time down significantly; Unfortunately in a DT, patience is best and usually the only remedy.
The hardest part seems to be around the 12th week when people seem to have the idea that it is guaranteed that the issue has been irradicated and they move things a little too quickly into the DT especially when all of the fish in QT show no signs at all for months of going ich-free and we think the coast is clear.
Sounds like Kathy, Sunny Mbg, & Russ are offering the best advice in terms of going 2-3 times the amount of time to run fallow. It's not worth the 8 weeks to gamble and possibly start all over again especially when you're thinking about bringing other fish into the mix.
Best of luck and I hope it all works out for you!
- Location
- Mt Sinai, NY
Great info from Reef fixations.
Remember also that ich can also come in on frags, rock, etc.
Know where your stuff comes from. Dip everything. I even remove plugs.
Remember also that ich can also come in on frags, rock, etc.
Know where your stuff comes from. Dip everything. I even remove plugs.
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