How to kill ick????

shista

Member
Hi everyone,, I just had a couple fish die on me during qt from a huge ick outbreak... I was wondering if there was some way to quickly kill ick in my qt since there is nothing in there?? i was thinking of something like a 90% water change of just freshwater for a couple days or something along those lines..... i want to add new fish to the qt with clean water, so they dont get ick all over again
 

beth

Administrator
Staff member
No quick fixes, as ich can also remain on equipment. Do a large water change with water from your display, and leave the tank wo fish for 3 weeks.
If you break down the tank to clean it, then you will have to start over with a cycle. Massive water change with fresh water will effect much of your bio-filter.
 

sepulatian

Moderator
Just be patient. This hobby requires a LOT of patience. There are no quick fixes and rushing by even a few days can be devastating.
 
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cuccaro

Guest
Ick is like a god u can never get rid of it in my opinion. You can just make sure u fish are healthy enough to fight it off. Had my tank empty for 2 months and still came back with no new additions. =(
 

michaeltx

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cuccaro http:///t/386674/how-to-kill-ick#post_3408664
Ick is like a god u can never get rid of it in my opinion. You can just make sure u fish are healthy enough to fight it off. Had my tank empty for 2 months and still came back with no new additions. =(
actually you can rid a tank of ich with proper planning and QT. the ich parasite needs a host to complete its life cycle if there are no fish it will die off.
If you have fish in the tank and are healthy and ich is present they can fight it off but it will still continue its cycle and when conditions are right and the fish is stressed it can cause an outbreak they can not fight off. but it is doable to get rid of the parasites in the tank. just have to get it that way and then not to reintroduce them into the tank or they can be present from that time on.
Mike
 
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cuccaro

Guest
My friend from high school is a marine biologists and has said he has seen studies that ick can live in tank for up to 6 months with no fish and just inverts and coral. Im not saying it really can't be killed im just saying peoples opinion of 6 weeks fish free might not be a guarantee to kill ick my tank was fish free for 2 months fish that showed signs of ick died and other fish where kept in qt for 2 months. no new addition and ick came back. I have done alot of research on ick andhave found more people testing water after 6 weeks put fish back don't add anything new and 2 months later ick is still present in tank no fish are affected but its still there. I also do believe people think they get rid of ick because they can't see it but it is still there. Im not saying u are wrong but I think most people believe ick is gone when its not
 

sepulatian

Moderator
Cuccaro, can you provide some facts to back that up? The life cycle of the ich parasite is pretty straight forward. The parasite attached to the fish is a trophont. It spends about a week feeding off of the fish. When it drops off it is now called a protomont. It is full and ready to reproduce. It can attach itself to pretty much any hard surface. The protomont can spend anywhere from a few minutes to 18 hours looking for a good spot to attach. Once it attaches it encases itself. At this stage it is called a tomont. The parasite divides by the hundreds. This can take 30 days. After this period new tomites start looking for a host. The parasites can ONLY be killed during the Tomite period, when they are free swimming. The cycle takes 28-40 days.
There are some parasites that I believe CAN live way longer without a host. Velvet is at the top of my list. Those parasites can feed off of detritus in the sand. Ich cannot. The life cycle is very specific.
That being said, I have had ich in my display. I treated it, quarantined EVERY new purchase, including snails and rock, and never had it again. I don't believe that ich was still in my display because I have had heaters die, electricity out, etc, and never one spot.
 

cranberry

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by MichaelTX http:///t/386674/how-to-kill-ick#post_3408666
actually you can rid a tank of ich with proper planning and QT. the ich parasite needs a host to complete its life cycle if there are no fish it will die off.
If you have fish in the tank and are healthy and ich is present they can fight it off but it will still continue its cycle and when conditions are right and the fish is stressed it can cause an outbreak they can not fight off. but it is doable to get rid of the parasites in the tank. just have to get it that way and then not to reintroduce them into the tank or they can be present from that time on.
Mike
I QT everything, but how many can QT for longer than 3 months. My tank was fallow for at least 3 months. It may have been longer. My hypothesis is there's a strain that has an extended Tomont Phase. One that outlast even a 3 month fallow period. They need fish hosts when they are in the Theront phase and Trophont stage, but if they remain in the Tomont stage for extended amounts of time, they can beat the fallow period. Then the newly cleaned fish is placed back in the tank and eventually the Tomont releases all of its family members and the fish is reinfected.
 
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cuccaro

Guest
How would u like me to prove facts? Would u like my friend who is biologist to call u? Yes every thing has life cycle just like us back in 1800 people dis not live past 50 1900 65 was average age 200 over 75. Is it note possible that a parasite can do same? Fact my tank had ick survive 60 days fish free so going by ur hypotheses it should of been dead. How old is ur info on ick 1 year 2 years 10 years. Im not saying ur wrong im just saying people say after 6 weeks is is dead. Can it not be possible that it is still there and people are just keeping healthier fish with garlic and zoas ect ect. Like cranberry said they thing theres a new strain who's to say u don't have ick in your tank right now and not know because fish are healthy. Do u look at ur water under high powered microscope to make sure it's gone do u check every crevice of a rock to see if its not hiding?
 
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salt water reef

Guest
Thirty years ago in the 1980's when salt tanks became possible as hobby an isolated hospital tank with copper in the water for all new salt water fish for thirty days, people suggested fresh water dips, from the other comments it's possible parasites never completely go away completely and can be introduced with any new live rock, coral, or fish. With that said, you don't have to be a marine biologist, I’m not, what I have is three decades of experience researching best solutions, reading publications, listening more to people who do the research for salt water products. Two guys from CT I knew created Ultra Life company, Ron and Rob, they are still in the game, no longer have tanks at home, in writing to them they still do the research. Anyway, when you take advice from a blog consider how much experience the poster has in the hobby. Young and dumb comes to mind, statements like I worked in a pet store once. On ick I run UV sterilizer, Google it, read about it. Today it’s a cost effective solution to maintain fish heath, it does not impact Coralline Algae growth, only harmful bacteria and ick. You get the same results by running Ozone with a controller; it also kills the free floating parasites. Also, keep in mind the fish with parasites will probably need to be isolated at least in a floating refugium because the other fish sense they are ill and add to the problem. For example, I triggerfish with attack a damsel at the surface gasping for breath; they seem to know unhealthy fish put themselves in danger and act. “Anything” else suggested or done goes back to useless folk tales from people with very little insight or skills, Public Aquariums either change large quantities of salt water directly from the ocean, or run large skimmers with Ozone, with UV Sterilization. These principles came from sewage treatment books from the 1930’s and where not created by the fish industry, public water supplies depend on these principles which also increase the health of your tanks inhabitants.
Quote:
Originally Posted by shista http:///t/386674/how-to-kill-ick#post_3397676
Hi everyone,, I just had a couple fish die on me during qt from a huge ick outbreak... I was wondering if there was some way to quickly kill ick in my qt since there is nothing in there?? i was thinking of something like a 90% water change of just freshwater for a couple days or something along those lines..... i want to add new fish to the qt with clean water, so they dont get ick all over again
 

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Goodness. Ich is a parasite, not an invading alien. Its rather easy to kill and KEEP IT OUT of your display, if hobbyists just were not so hard headed about some of the things they need to do to take care of fish and their tanks.
 

cranberry

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by salt water reef http:///t/386674/how-to-kill-ick#post_3409101
Thirty years ago in the 1980's when salt tanks became possible as hobby an isolated hospital tank with copper in the water for all new salt water fish for thirty days, people suggested fresh water dips, from the other comments it's possible parasites never completely go away completely and can be introduced with any new live rock, coral, or fish. With that said, you don't have to be a marine biologist, I’m not, what I have is three decades of experience researching best solutions, reading publications, listening more to people who do the research for salt water products. Two guys from CT I knew created Ultra Life company, Ron and Rob, they are still in the game, no longer have tanks at home, in writing to them they still do the research. Anyway, when you take advice from a blog consider how much experience the poster has in the hobby. Young and dumb comes to mind, statements like I worked in a pet store once. On ick I run UV sterilizer, Google it, read about it. Today it’s a cost effective solution to maintain fish heath, it does not impact Coralline Algae growth, only harmful bacteria and ick. You get the same results by running Ozone with a controller; it also kills the free floating parasites. Also, keep in mind the fish with parasites will probably need to be isolated at least in a floating refugium because the other fish sense they are ill and add to the problem. For example, I triggerfish with attack a damsel at the surface gasping for breath; they seem to know unhealthy fish put themselves in danger and act. “Anything” else suggested or done goes back to useless folk tales from people with very little insight or skills, Public Aquariums either change large quantities of salt water directly from the ocean, or run large skimmers with Ozone, with UV Sterilization. These principles came from sewage treatment books from the 1930’s and where not created by the fish industry, public water supplies depend on these principles which also increase the health of your tanks inhabitants.
The big flaw of the UV filter is that it although it may kill parasites as they pass through, not all parasites will pass through it, which makes it an ineffective treatment.
 

sepulatian

Moderator
Being that nobody gave any of the examples that Saltwater Reef used, I am guessing that this is copy and paste...
 
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