How long until ich dies?

xnik87

xnik87

New Member
I recently had my clownfish die of ich due to a heat spike. However there is a sixline wrasse in the tank that is showing no symptoms. Now with stable water parameters,how long until the ich is gone and i can purchase another fish? BTW the heat problem was solved by using some egg crate.
 
aw2

aw2

Active Member
As long as there is a fish in the tank, ich will not go away.
It also lives on/in the sand and on the live rock.
The only way to get rid of ick is to run a hyposalinity treatment by removing all fish and lowering your salinity to 1.010 or an SG of 14 and then leaving it there for 4 - 8 weeks.
 
xnik87

xnik87

New Member
I have corals so i can't use hypo. Isnt there another way? I dont hear of ppl with huge tanks have to take them apart just to get rid of ich that 1 fish had?
 
aw2

aw2

Active Member
Originally Posted by xnik87
I have corals so i can't use hypo. Isnt there another way? I dont hear of ppl with huge tanks have to take them apart just to get rid of ich that 1 fish had?

If you have corals, you'll have to remove the fish from the tank and place them in a quarentine tank and run hypo there.
If the tank is left fallow (without fish) for a period of 4 - 6 weeks, it should kill the ick, but it's not guaranteed.
And yes...people with huge tanks sometimes have to tear them down to treat for ick. However, people with huge tanks also have huge sumps, etc. increasing their water volume. With an increased water volume comes more stable water parameters.
 
granny

granny

Member
Funny, I was talking to a Marine Biologist today about this same thing. He said there are actually about "25 different kinds of 'ich'" Most will go away on their own if the fish are healthy. The parasite needs a host to multiply. He stated that the parasite is in most tankks-after all, where does it come from to begin with? and when fish are stressed tehy are susceptible to infestation, but most healthy fish can shed teh parasites with their slime coat.
There is a chemical "Chem Marin" which can safely be used in reef tanks-no copper-as a last resort if you have an infestation and no quarantine tank. With large active fish, it is almost impossible to have a second tank set up and waiting to quarantine 1/2 dozen fish for 4-6 weeks.
So, you may never have the problem again-if your fish are healthy and tank parameters stable-but if you do, you have choices-depending on your tank and its inhabitants.
Wait it out, move to quarantine or use a product like Chem Marin.
Good luck. Worst case scenario is all the fish die-you leave the tank empty for several months-(no fun) then slowly add fish back-making sure they are parasite free before introduced to the main tank.
 
cmiles

cmiles

Member
I battled ich the first 3 motnhs after my sycle was over and I finally decided to feed garlic and add a sterlizer. I also added extra cleaner shrimp and a couple of neon gobies and ( knock on wood) I havent seen ich in my tank in at least 3 months or so. I still continue to run the sterilizer and feed garlic soaked algae sheets. And I have a hippo tang. She looks great. Worked for me anyway. I think there can be something to letting nature take its course and adding natural remedies such as the cleaners, and the garlic for helping the immune system. But then again who knows.
 
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