Ich Probs

[albfishin']

:help: I recently had an ich outbreak in my tank which claimed several of my fish. I have one fish that is still diseased in the tank. My question is, if this fish ends up dying as well, will the parasite die (since there are no more host fish left)? Or can the parasite continue to be a problem by living on inverts and coral in the tank?

 

[zsalinas]

From what I understand Ick has to have a fish to host on. Inverts and corals will not be affected. I've had ick in my tank and I had one fish actually make it through. The ick still ridded itself from the tank. I have no idea how. I waited 6 weeks to make sure it was all the way out. Continue to do regular water changes also. I then bought 3 chromis' cause they're cheap and they're still alive and kickin. This was about 6 months ago.

 

[albfishin']

Sounds good. How often do you recommend H2O changes? I did a five gallon change 3 nights ago and was planning another on Sunday. Is that too soon?

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by AlbFishin'
Sounds good. How often do you recommend H2O changes? I did a five gallon change 3 nights ago and was planning another on Sunday. Is that too soon?
What are your water parameters? Water changes are to be done as needed. For example, if you are showing nitrates then you should do a water change. If everything is reading zero then there is no need. If you had ich and the last fish has died, let it run fishless for at least 6 weeks. Add a week if the case was severe.

 

[lion_crazz]

Originally Posted by sepulatian
What are your water parameters? Water changes are to be done as needed. For example, if you are showing nitrates then you should do a water change. If everything is reading zero then there is no need. If you had ich and the last fish has died, let it run fishless for at least 6 weeks. Add a week if the case was severe.
I fully agree.

 

[albfishin']

Water parameters in tank are fine:
salinity = 1.021
ph = 8.2
ammonia = 0
nitrite = 0
KH = 8
dKH = 2.85
My only exception is nitrates = 80
Could nitrates be high due to all the death in the tank? With elevated nitrates how often should I perform h2o changes? All the info. is a big help thanks for responding. :joy:

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by AlbFishin'
Water parameters in tank are fine:
salinity = 1.021
ph = 8.2
ammonia = 0
nitrite = 0
KH = 8
dKH = 2.85
My only exception is nitrates = 80
Could nitrates be high due to all the death in the tank? With elevated nitrates how often should I perform h2o changes? All the info. is a big help thanks for responding. :joy:
Do 30% water changes once every 4-5 days untill the nitrates are under 20.
How often were you doing water changes before?

 

[albfishin']

I was changing 5 gal. every two weeks

 

[sac10918]

Make sure to wait six weeks before adding fish to tank that had ich. I think there is a form of the ich that can be dormant for a few weeks and wait for a fish. But if the tank is empty (fish-free) for six weeks, all the ick should be gone.

 

[albfishin']

Thanks everyone for the help.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by AlbFishin'
I was changing 5 gal. every two weeks
Doing larger more frequent water changes is much more effective when trying to dilute nitrates. Good luck to you, let us know how it goes