Ich and temperature of fallow tank

AQD_ottawa

AQD_ottawa

New member
I think this will be a question for Steve ;)

I have had a huge Ich outbreak, sadly lost 95% of my fish only left with 2 clowns and a goby.

These are now in QT being treated with Ich X (however going to switch to paraguard as I hate formalin)

The DT is now fallow I have increased the water temp to 84F in the hope to speed up the fallow period. Everywhere I have read (hours literally) says the cycle is dramatically shortened.

The QT is at 80F and being treated daily.

So the questions

1. based on the wide spread info on faster life cycle/ temp. what would be the accepted fallow period at 84-85F?
2. none of my fish remaining are showing any signs of ICH, how long should I treat the QT system. I am of the understanding the medication will not effect the cyst stage? so should i be treating for 4 weeks? Or worst case 10 weeks? Which seems like a lot of chemicals to put the fish through.

All new fish will be brought into QT to be treated as one this week. Any further fish will be treated the same way, and all new inverts will be in a chem free QT for 4-5 weeks, although this brings me back to question 1, if no treatment being employed surely the inverts and corals would need to be QT's for up to 10 weeks?
 
How long did it take to kill the fish? This sounds like its possibly velvet. Temp has little, if any effect on marine ich, like it does with FW ich. Paraguard won't eradicate ich either. Tank transfer (read Steve's sticky at the top of the disease section) copper, and probably Chloroquine Phosphate are the only cures that work IMO & IME. Copper, I really prefer Cupramine, is also will kill velvet. For ich: 4 weeks of Cupramine at .30-.40 ppm and a fallow tank for 12 weeks. . Here's one of Steve's piece on ich.
 
its was over a 10 day period.

I have switched to cupramine.

In regards to temperature i got this from Steves post

"The life cycle of this parasite is interesting and is important to understand when evaluating a treatment. The stage where the parasite is attached to a fish is called a trophont. The trophont will spend three to seven days (depending on temperature)"

This is the same as I found from multiple searches online also.
 
Ok so I have found on here, temperature does decrease the life cycle of a fallow tank, so my questions moves to what is the max temp our corals and inverts can sustain? these are the only two elements left in the tank.

There is also the question of a tank with nothing in it what so ever raising the temp to 90F could theoretically be clean in 4 weeks or less.?
 
I read on the (marine ich the real scoop) thread that increased temperatures will actually cause the parasite to basically go dormant in which case it would remain in your system much longer. These are two drastically opposite "facts"... :/
 
Just did a search and could not find this, but did find a lot to the opposite. would be interested to see this research?
 
This may be correct; but I've seen many sources that say the raising temp on MI has no measurable ich.I used to do a fair amount of research on our hobby, but not anymore( I hate doing "research of any kind.). Prior to Katrina, I had a ton of research that showed both sides. But, IMO, its irrelevant because ich cysts can take so much more time to release their offspring than what is "normal". I think anything done, with the intent of speeding up the fallow time, is very dangerous. This sticky by Snorvich shows that all cysts may still be holding offspring at 9 weeks+. I'm not sure anyone knows when/if a fallow tank can be said with certainty that there are no longer living forms of ich. left in the tank. I do know that the longer fallow time will always increase the odds. I certainly would never move any of my fish to a fallow DT at any less than 12 weeks; regardless of temp. . That number used to be 6 weeks, then 10, now 12. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2041951
 
MurphysLaw said:
I read on the (marine ich the real scoop) thread that increased temperatures will actually cause the parasite to basically go dormant in which case it would remain in your system much longer. These are two drastically opposite "facts"... :/
Click to expand...

I believe the opposite has been shown as well. Significantly lower temps can keep the cysts around much longer. I don't know if we are just really lacking in ich information or there are just so many of the individual parasites, or even strains, that don't follow the rules.
 
Ok so where I was reading just said not to meet with the temp, didn't specify raising or lowering. My bad. But it does seem there are contrasting opinions in many areas regarding Ich treatment and Fallow periods.
 
The only effect that temperature can have on MI is on the low side, which will cause a slowing down of the life cycle. Raising the temperature (salt water not fresh water) will have no affect. But, based only on the timeline, it sounds like velvet, or possibly brook. Can you describe physical symptoms of the fish?
 
Hi Steve,

the powder blue and the regal had many raised pumps (not all white) no rapid gill movement.

The yellow tang was flicking and head shaking but no spots, I fresh water dipped him and that stopped this but he died the next day no reason other than stress I guess.

The wrasses just perished no sign just died.

The blue tang was very white spotty, then last day became covered in tiny white dots.

The two clowns and the goby have shown no signs and are doing well in QT
 
Raised "bumps" sound like ich but the timeline and mortality level suggests velvet. One of the first behavioral symptoms of velvet is reclusiveness and light sensitivity. Both velvet and ich result in faster respiration, even at night. For ich, tank transfer is the easiest and most effective, for velvet, while fresh water dips relieve symptoms temporarily, cupramine is the treatment of choice. Fresh water dips do nothing for ich because the trophonts are too deeply embedded.
 
Back in the sixties, when I was doing fresh water breeding of angelfish, the theory was that for fresh water ich, raising the temperature to 80-84 F would accelerate the lifecycle so that may be where you are recalling that from.
 
Thanks Steve.

DT is now empty other than critters and two corals. Remaining fish (3) are in QT for now in Ich X but I will be starting copper once it arrives.

I am getting new fish stock on Sunday all of which will be QT in copper for the fallow duration.
 
Well, that table is not all that useful because there are various strains (my recollection is about 12-14 different ones) of cryptocaryon irritans. At least one known strain is insensitive to reduced salinity treatment. At least one strain can survive and goes semi-dormant at about 59 degrees (which is pretty cold although present in some of the diving locations I have frequented) and still can revive and continue the life cycle when temperature is raised. At normal aquarium temperatures tank transfer is excellent for cryptocaryon irritans but does nothing for velvet or brook. Good luck with the new fish.
 
Ok HERE S MY 2 CENTS , Presently Im treating 3 qt tanks for ick. THE SHIPMENT ARRIVED VERY COLD AND MANY FISH WHERE LATERAL. Any ways they are in the 4 week of qt with copperpower and in this case and here is where the strain of ick dictates the results .All fish eliminated ick at 1.015 s.g. at 86F I remember reading that ick will die at temps over 93, and so will many inverts we keep ,and bleaching of corals etc. but if you keep only fish it maybe an alternative
 
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