How long does it take to kill ich?

[thompson2224]

So I have ich in my tank currently, but I am in the process of setting up a 72 gallon tank. I have a plan to get rid of this ich crap once and for all, tell me what you think.

Step 1. Cycle my 72 gallon tank using none of the sand, live rock, or water that is in my current 20 gallon tank.

Step 2. Move my corals and invertebrates into the 72 gallon. Can I dip them in anything to remove any ich that may be attached to them?

Step 3 Put fish into a separate 20 gallon and administer treatment. How long does it take to kill ich using copper or some other form of treatment?

Step 4. In the current 20 gallon crank up the heat and drop salinity and have it sit in the tank for a few weeks til the ich on the rock and sand is dead

Step 5. Transfer fish into the 72 gallon tank

Step 6. Slowly add the sand and rock from the 20 gallon into the 72 gallon.

I would want to get the fish into the 72 gallon as quick as possible without them getting ich again.

So does about a week or two of treating the fish with copper than getting them into the 72 sound okay?

 

[HumbleFish]

If I'm understanding correctly... you are upgrading from a 20 to 72 gal tank? And want to eradicate Ich as part of the upgrade process?

 

[ReeferBill]

It takes 6. Weeks for the ick cycle to die off with no fish in system.

 

[thompson2224]

Yes that is correct. Right I know but the 72 gallon tank won't ever have ich introduced into the 72 gallon as I am using dry rock in the tank and new sand as well. The live rock in the tank now would not be put back into the 72 gallon until all the ich would be dead. So with copper how long after the initial dose will it take to kill it off the fish? What can I do to the corals to make sure they don't bring the ich into the larger tank?

 

[snorvich]

It takes 6. Weeks for the ick cycle to die off with no fish in system.

No. Actually, the safe fallow tank number is 12 weeks.

 

[HumbleFish]

Yes that is correct. Right I know but the 72 gallon tank won't ever have ich introduced into the 72 gallon as I am using dry rock in the tank and new sand as well. The live rock in the tank now would not be put back into the 72 gallon until all the ich would be dead. So with copper how long after the initial dose will it take to kill it off the fish? What can I do to the corals to make sure they don't bring the ich into the larger tank?

The fish should be good to go after 4 weeks of copper treatment; although it would be wise to observe for another month after copper treatment has ended (to be sure).

Transferring the corals/inverts is a bit more complicated. It is possible Ich could "hitchhike" into your 72 gal on one of them. For example, many of my corals are attached to rocks and even the ones that are not; there is no way I could get them 100% dry without killing them. And since all it takes is a droplet of water to transfer Ich... do you see where I am going? Anything "wet" can transfer Ich from one tank to another. And there are no dips you could use with complete confidence.

So, your best bet would be to go 72 days fallow on the 20 gal, and then transfer everything into the 72 gal after that. Even the rock should be safe to transfer by then. And the fish. It will take you at least 6 weeks to cycle the 72 gal using a raw shrimp (or similar) anyway.