ich treatment question

[Skywalker71]

I am currently running my main tank fallow(took fish out). The only thing in it now are snails, and I was wondering if it would be safe at this time to add more invertabrates (like a cleaner shrimp and more snails). Or would this adversely effect the fallow treatment of the tank?? ( I plan on leaving the tank fallow for a little over a month.)

 

[Steven Pro]

I recommend quarantining all new additions. This includes snails and shrimp. So, if you have several quarantine tanks, feel free to get more inverts. Otherwise, I would wait.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-10/sp/feature/index.php

 

[leebca]

In the case of Marine Ich (Cryptocaryon irritans) there is always a chance that the inverts you add have MI in the water they come in (if they were with fish or contaminated water from where they come from), or MI attached to the invert. The MI doesn't attack the invert, but it can ride along.

Like Steve says, it is best to quarantine inverts not only because of the MI concern, but other invert and hitchhiker concerns.

Just holding inverts in quarantine for no less than 6 weeks will take care of MI and Marine Velvet concerns, even if you don't want to address the invert problems and other hitchhikers.

Don't blow away your efforts on this. Hold fast!

:rollface:

 

[Skywalker71]

Thanks for the input Pro & Lee. One other question though, right now the quarintine tank is currently serving as a hospital tank, in the meantime I am soaking the new bio wheel that came with the filter for the QT. How long should I soak it for before I put it in the QT and once the ich treament is done, would it then be safe to put the carbon filtration back in the filter??

 

[leebca]

It may just be me, but I don't quite understand how to answer your question.

How are you doing the treatment in the QT? Hypo? Copper? other?

Was the bio-wheel exposed to the Marine Ich? What does 'soaking' mean? Why soaking?

The use of carbon is not recommended during the copper treatment; but okay during a hypo treatment, IMO.

 

[Skywalker71]

I am doing copper treatment... and what I mean by soaking the bio-wheel is that it was a brand new bio-wheel and I put it in my main tanks filter in order to build up bacteria. As far as being exposed to ich, I guess I would have to say yes, as it was my main tank in which my fish became infected (which is why I put them in the QT). I guess what I am asking is that when the QT is done with copper treatment and I put the carbon in the filter, what would be a sufficient amount of time for the bio-wheel to build up a good amount of bacteria (from the main tanks filter)?? Or is the wheel now unusable cause it has been exposed?? And does this mean that the bio-wheel for my main tank is no good? Will the fallowing process (main tank) still work if the bio-wheel is left in?

 

[leebca]

The bio-wheel, if it was prepared/filled with bacteria at the beginning of the QT, could have gone into the QT at the outset. In this way, the bio-wheel would be going along with the QT treatment.

But, I think if I understand it right, you have begun the QT without the bio-wheel that is still in your MI infected display. Now you want to bring the bio-wheel over to the QT where the treatment is already underway.

If you bring the bio-wheel over to the QT, then in my opinion, you need to start the QT treatment over again. As a hypothetical example: You began your 14-day copper treatment in the QT and you are three days into that treatment, when you add the potentially MI contaminated bio-wheel. You've lost those three days and now actually begin again the copper treatment for 14 days from the time you put the bio-wheel in.

Another example: You've done your 14-day copper treatment and you are observing your fish for three weeks now (total 5 weeks in QT) to verify your treatment was successful. You want to put your now-prepared bio-wheel in the QT. No! The bio-wheel still needs to be operated another 3 weeks in a fallow system to make sure it is not Marine Ich infected. You don't want to risk re-contaminating the fish in QT.

I would shy away from doing the first example only because I would not want my fish to have to face a copper treatment any longer than they have to.

"Soaking" throws me! To establish the beneficial bacteria in your bio-wheel, you need to actually run it in the established aquarium for a few weeks. Is it running or just sitting there?

As long as the bio-wheel is running in the main display and the display system is fallow/fishless, then at the end of 8 weeks, there will be no more Marine Ich in your display and no more Marine Ich in your bio-wheel. In fact, there will be no more Marine Ich in your entire display system (sump, refugium, pumps, tubing, etc.). But you don't want to use the bio-wheel on your QT while it is in treatment, for at least 8 weeks, IMO.

After everything is Marine Ich-free, then the next marine fish or any specimen you quarantine, you can use the bio-wheel on the QT.

Did I answer everything? :rollface:

 

[Skywalker71]

whew!! thanks for all the help LEE. I was planning to fallow the main tank for about 6 weeks, is this long enough?

 

[leebca]

I'm in a minority on that question. Based upon Dr. Burgess' work a few years ago, he found that the 'cyst' stage of the Marine Ich parasite to exist up to 6 weeks without moving on to the next stage. It is not normal for it to do this.

Most would say 6 is okay, but I use and recommend 8 when the Marine Ich infection was known to have been present.