High Temps to kill Ich?

[ReefAA]

Hi everyone,

Im new here but not new to the hobby. I have done this with freshwater tanks with success (raising temps to 85-87 degrees for 2 days solid) and have been able to kill parasites in the tank. However, In all the years I have been keeping Saltwater I have never once had Ich.

I started a new tank with 3 new fish from a different Tank (not mine) and all three inhabitants died within 2 weeks from some parasite, I would consider Ich. My question remains that If I were to raise the temp from 78-80 all the way up to 85-87 for a 48 hour period, will that kill the Ich or whatever parasite is residing in the tank?

Tank inhabitants:
40 gallon
Zero fish
2 soft corals
2 inverts
75 lbs LR
3-4 inch SandBed

Any help concerning the Ich would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Jerry W]

Raising the temp will merely accelerate the life cycle and not kill the parasite. I think raising temps to that degree might be detrimental to your other inhabitants. Since the tank has no fish, simply leave it that way for 6 weeks and any parasites will have died off in the absence of a fish host.

 

[ReefAA]

Thanks Jerry. My next question was going to be how long should the tank be fishless before plunging back into it. Thanks for answering that question as well!

 

[Andrew]

In order to ensure all of the ich that is present in your tank is gone, you should leave your tank fishless for at least 4-6 weeks. If there is no host, they will slowly die off. Here's some articles about ich and treatment that are worth taking the time to read:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-08/sp/index.php

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-10/sp/feature/index.php

 

[ReefAA]

Thank you Andrew!

I was actually planning on being fishless for 2-3 months, so that should be sufficient time.

 

[Andrew]

No Problem. Sounds like a plan to me. :thumbsup:

 

[oceanparadise1]

look for tmz he is awsome when it comes to ich i think for it to totally die off(34 life cycles) it takes 11 full months...i could be wrong thou

 

[ReefAA]

Thank you all for the responses! Not to step on toes, but I will check on that info as well OceanParadise just to make sure. I had no idea that a fish parasite could lpossibly live for that long without a host. I was under the impression, initially, that it would take only a few weeks for it to die off.

Thanks again!