ich- what exact methods do we know for sure work?

[seecrabrun]

Going fallow for 10 weeks has the highest percentage for a tank.

What about for incoming additions to the tank- inverts, rock, macro, corals?

The tank transfer method for fish is my preferred method. I've not bothered to learn much about the other options.

 

[jay0705]

There are coral dips. But the others its just fishless to be sure

 

[mauler]

Hyposalinity and copper work 100% if done correctly with hypo being the less stressful on the fish. I personally have used a product called metroplex with good results

 

[seecrabrun]

I'm more interested in methods for the rest of the tank.

Treating live rock, inverts, coral that come in from an unknown source.

 

[jay0705]

Most "treatment" will kill what is on ur rock. So its just fallow and then for sure your ok. Idk if coral dips kill ich or not

 

[seecrabrun]

I only use dry rock myself since I couldn't figure out a way to make sure the live rock was ich free.

I'm still building up the tank with rock and it has no coral. I don't have ich and I'm pretty confident I have an ich free tank, but something may have snuck in on the back of a snail.

 

[mauler]

I don't believe coral dips do anything for ich so your best best is to set up a small qt tank specifically for coral and inverts and just make sure every new coral and invert stays in that tank for atleast four weeks

 

[jay0705]

Ok yes. While they don't host ich. Ich can attach and be carried in on them. So just a qt w/o fish and you'll be covered. "Most" reputable fish stores don't keep fish in there lr tanks for that reason.
I've read ich does not occur in the wild its a aquarium provided? Issue. Idk how true this is tho

 

[seecrabrun]

What is the QT period though, the full 10 weeks like a fallow tank?

 

[jay0705]

I would say 6

 

[seecrabrun]

What's the science behind that though?

The best option for a tank is 10 weeks without fish, so shouldn't the coral go 10 as well?

I may start confirming with the supplier when the last time the coral was in water with fish.

I'm going to have to set up a QT just for coral and put them in in groups so they finish out at the same time.

 

[jay0705]

Beth would know best. I believe ich has a 4-5 week life cycle. So after that w no host"fish" it dies

 

[seecrabrun]

The longest recorded dormant tomont was 72 days. So really we should be going more like 12 weeks. 72 in case we get that freak tomont and another week for what comes out to die.

 

[jay0705]

Was that at a cooler than normal temp?

 

[seecrabrun]

Cooler and warmer will both cause them to go dormant.

 

[jay0705]

Hmm, never heard they can go 10 wks

 

[Bryce E]

I always thought that warmer temperatures speed up the cycle.. via higher metabolism. When I did hypo, I also increased my water temp to 80 - 82 degrees and aerated the tank.

 

[Bryce E]

And @jay0705 ich does live and occur in the wild. It didn't pop up as a new form of life in the aquarium. We are just providing the right conditions for the buggers to thrive as well as for the fish not to be able to avoid infection, reinfection. Just takes a much easier hold in aquariums because it's a small enclosed system, trapping the host and allowing ideal conditions for them to breed, explode in numbers and infect over and over. Healthy fish can avoid ich in small numbers altogether simply because of a thick and healthy slime coat. In the wild imagine that a fish can get ich... have one outbreak, the ich bore out of the fish falling to the ocean floor and the fish is now ich free after one cycle because they swim away and never run into a free swimming parasite again. (so to speak)

 

[jay0705]

Makes sense. I see say cleaner shrimp and wrasse. Help but in a tank idk if they would keep up

 

[mauler]

Cleaner wrasses and shrimp are not know to eat to eat the ick parasite