Ich treatment help

[6044jason]

Hi,

My DT has Ich so i am going to remove all of the fish and leave it fallow for 12 weeks.

I have a 2nd tank of the same size set up which I'll use as a hospital tank (120g / 400ltrs)

I know the hospital tank will have ich too as i've shared water between them. I'm not sure whether to slowly move all the fish over then reduce salinity down to hypo conditions for the full 12 weeks or whether to use Cupramine.

If i do use cupramine i am confused about how long to use it for, if i treat for 4 weeks as Seachem suggest, then go 8 weeks observing.. surely the ICH cysts that are present at the moment will start to hatch after I've removed the copper and re-infect the fish? as I know cupramine doesn't affect the cysts.

Any advice?

 

[Dmorty217]

use cupramine for a minimum of 30 days, same with hypo if you go that route. The ich will reinfect your fish within the 8 week time period if you failed to eradicate it with cupramine or hypo when the cupramine is removed or the tank salinity is brought back up to normal

 

[6044jason]

That's my point, if the cysts live for up to 12 weeks, why do we only treat for 30 days?

 

[6044jason]

I know that Ich can live on the fish without showing symptoms so that's why i'm nervous about the last 8 weeks having no treatment. Cupramine for 12 weeks too much if i did 4 weeks at 0.5 and 8 weeks at 0.25 dose?

 

[Uncle99]

Use cupramine at recommended levels until all spots gone, then continue for 21 days after no spots seen..... then remove cupramine with carbon and watch for 30 days.

So fish will take about 50-60 days and the DT 72 days

 

[HumbleFish]

That's my point, if the cysts live for up to 12 weeks, why do we only treat for 30 days?

Most tomonts (cysts) release all their free swimmers in 30 days or less. There are only a few known strains which exceed this. So, the odds are in your favor if treating for 30 days.

However, if you wanted to be super safe then transfer all the fish into another QT (at least 10 feet away) after 30 days. This strategy leaves any unhatched tomonts behind in the original treatment tank.