ICH -How long before treated fish can be reintroduced to an infected tank?

[Tek]

I had to remove my corals and rock just to catch them all and have been in QT with medication for almost a week. Looks like the Ich hitch hiked into the tank somehow through frags or a large feather duster.

The fish do not look very happy in the QT tank and my flame has started to loose appetite for the pellets it normally eats.

 

[Recty]

There is a lot to think about there.

1) Your fish may not look happy, but at least in the QT you're treating (I assume) and getting rid of his problems. If he was in the main tank he would be a lot less happy still covered in ich.

2) Your main tank has ich. If you have any fish in there, it will continue to propagate over and over. The only way you'll get rid of that is by having no fish at all in your tank for 3 months, I believe 13 weeks to be precise That number is debated, but it seems to be the magic number to me.

So... you could put him back in your main tank. The stress of moving and what not will definitely make him more susceptible to catching ich again. Or you could get a game plan going on how to rid your main tank of ich, but that requires a lot of work!

 

[Tek]

I removed the fishes and all have been treated and there is not one left in the main tank besides the corals and clams.

They just seem to be really stressed in the treatment tank since it is a bare tank and no real biological filter established. Some are showing fin rot signs that were not there prior.

I have been making 25% water changes to keep the ammonia down and my fear is that the Ich is gone, but they will succumb to non prestine water conditions or end up with a bacteria infection or worst. The lost of appetite has me concerned.

The treatment seems to have worked on the Ich just fine. Should I run carbon to get rid of any medication left over?

 

[Recty]

How long did you treat for?

You're kind of in a hard spot. You cant leave them in poor water quality or they will die or at least really suffer. You might have to do more than a 25% water change, you might need to do a 50%? Who knows, but get the water quality better.

You dont want to stop treating though either, you need to go through the whole treatment cycle.

 

[Tek]

I used the 2 day Ich remedy with machalite green and formalin. Treated for 5 days and all signs of Ich are gone. The other 4 fish are eating well except the Flame Angel. The Flame and a purple pseudo show signs of fin rot after the treatment. They were all eating and fine in the main tank besides the signs of ich.

 

[JDMhoes]

Ich will always be in the tank, its the matter of keeping your fish happy and healthy..good luck

 

[krowleey]

Ich will always be in the tank, its the matter of keeping your fish happy and healthy..good luck

absolutely incorrect. You seem to believe a very old myth that with a little research via google, you will find the answer for yourself.

 

[Recty]

I used the 2 day Ich remedy with machalite green and formalin. Treated for 5 days and all signs of Ich are gone. The other 4 fish are eating well except the Flame Angel. The Flame and a purple pseudo show signs of fin rot after the treatment. They were all eating and fine in the main tank besides the signs of ich.

What does the package say? It should say to remove the medication afterwards with carbon, I would just assume... so yeah, it would be a good idea to do that and get their water quality pristine again.

 

[Tek]

All of the other fish are fine and look as if nothing happened, even the fin rot on the pseudo stopped and healed. The Angel is still going down hill. It was the most active one in the tank before and after being moved to the treatment tank. I am going to place him in a more established QT tank since the Ich is now gone.

 

[Tek]

Ich will always be in the tank, its the matter of keeping your fish happy and healthy..good luck

I do not believe that. All of the fish in the main tank were very well fed and I have some that are 8 years old. I am very certain it came from a large feather duster I failed to QT thinking it was a harmless addition.

I miscounted there are actually 5 out of 6 that are doing well after treatment. The angel has not stopped fighting so I am still optimistic as long as it starts to eat again. :fish1: From years of keeping Angels they seem to be the most affected by ammonia and changes in water quality.

 

[Tek]

Good news!

The Angel bounced back after being transferred to a tank I was housing Chromis and a Percula. He had some cloudiness in his eyes that has cleared, his swimming has returned to normal, and he is eating flakes!

Lesson learned to keep the water quality up when treating an Angel or scale back the treatment dosage per day, but increase the length of time.

Thank you for all the help!

 

[Recty]

Lesson learned to keep the water quality up when treating an Angel or scale back the treatment dosage per day, but increase the length of time.

Not a good idea to scale back the dosage... most treatments are made to work at a set concentration level, so if you only dose say 75% of what you should, you wont be at a level that is deadly to whatever you are fighting.

Sure, the fish will probably handle it better, but so will the ich

 

[js1218]

6 to 8 week worked for me

 

[mborkush]

I posted this on the other thread, wondering if it might apply here as well.

...I stumbled accross this stuff, Has anyone ever used this? This is the write up on it:
"No-ICH Marine
Scientifically formulated Reef-Safe water treatment for Cryptocaryon irritans (marine "œwhite spot") and Ichthyopthirius multifiliis (freshwater ich). Engineered to attack the infectious free swimming stage of the ich life cycle and rid the aquarium of these harmful parasites. No-Ich is safe for all fish, invertebrates, corals, plants and biological filtration systems. 100% copper and malachite free solution. One liter treats up to 100 gallons. Self-Dosing bottle makes measuring and application simple and easy."

 

[Recty]

I used it, it was all my LFS carried back when I was new to the hobby and had a reef tank. It didnt seem to harm any of my corals, but it didnt seem to do much for the ich either. I did notice the ich seemed to be gone and I was excited and then 2 weeks later the fish had ich again. My biggest problem with it is it doesnt stay in the water long enough to kill off the ich as it goes through it's life cycle. Some of the ich sitting on the bottom (pretty much invincible at that stage) will hatch after the medication is already gone and start the cycle over again.