Ick possible?

[soccer4life94]

I was planning on QTing all fish before going into my new tank. A friend told me ick happens to everyone. Fish get stressed and they get ick. I was under the impression that if i never into a fish into the main tank without QTing them first then I wont ever intro it into the tank so i should never have to deal with it. Is this assumption wrong?

 

[eagle1]

The suggestions I've read are to QT the new fish using hypo ,whether they have ich or not, for 4 weeks. It is supposed to help you stay ichless.

 

[sweetdawn]

in qt for four weeks dont think in hypo four weeks

 

[eagle1]

Beth states on the BASIC FAQ sticky at the top of the forum:
Should I treat my fish even if I don’t see any Diseases?
You many also want to perform hyposalinity in the QT—regardless of the presence of parasites [ich] on fish. It can’t hurt to do it, can only benefit, but, then your QT time will be extended. You will need to reduce specific gravity/salinity over a 48-hr period, maintain the fish in hypo for 3 wks, then, over another 4-5 days bring the salinity back up to your main tank parameters. So, you are looking at another week in QT, in addition to the standard 3 wks. Hypo is a very precise process, however. You must get the specific gravity down to 1.009 and keep it there. It must not rise above that. To accomplish this, you need a refractometer or a salinity monitor to measure the salinity. Other instruments are not as precise, but you can also use a quality glass hydrometer.
Of course you don't have to do this as you suggest.

 

[soccer4life94]

I know how to Qt, and I know the reason for it. No one seems to be understanding what im talking about. My fault. Let me rephrase.
I say....if I QT all my fish and they are all clear of ick BEFORE putting them into the main tank, then i never intro it to the main tank thus there is no way I can catch it.
My friend says it doesnt matter if you do or dont. stressed fish will catch ick...he says there is no way to make a tank 100% ick free....
Who is correct?

 

[eagle1]

I'm new to the hobby so I'm no expert. Have been doing a lot of reading, not just on these forums.
Anyway, maybe one of the experts can help you. I've read that ich is always present in a tank. I've also read tanks can be made ich free. If there is no fish in a display for a period of time, then no ich. Unless it is introduced by an infected fish.
I'm tending towards the latter. Since it is a parasite, and if the parasite requires a host but can't find one, it's lifecycle is disrupted and dies.
Others may chime in. Good luck!

 

[soccer4life94]

That has always been my belief also. Thats why im trying to make myself slow down and QT for a period of time. A friend of mine is telling me I need to QT for 8 weeks?!?!? That seems like a long time. No? Yes?

 

[eagle1]

BASIC FAQ written by Beth states to QT for a minimum of 3 weeks but it doesn't state a max QT time period.
Eight weeks has suggested by your friend shouldn't be a problem, as long as the fish are comfortable in their QT environment.

 

[soccer4life94]

Ok...this just keeps getting better and better. A guy from around here tells me that in order to keep an ich free tank I would have to QT all frags, Inverts, etc...else it wouldnt do any good to QT fish. Said I can QT all my fish, but add one frag and BAM! Ick is now in the tank. Said I shouldnt even bother using a QT. HELP! I thought I was going the right thing here....

 

[eagle1]

I thought ich was strictly a FISH ONLY parasite? Hmmm...just continue to use your QT. You're one the right track.:happyfish

 

[soccer4life94]

So the only sure fire way is to QT your fish and let your inverts in the main tank stay fishless for at least one month. After both fish and main tank are QTed for a month. You can put them together. After that if you QT all incoming Inverts and such into your tank then you should be good to go?