Ich with only 5 weeks until vacation

[tjsmk8]

Unfortunately, I have ich in my 120. I know how it happened, the parasite's life cycle, and how it's normally treated. I plan to use the tank transfer method to rid the fish of ich, but I have no way of leaving the tank fallow past June 5 at the very latest. I have a friend capable of checking on the tank, feeding, etc, but certainly no one I could comfortably leave a qt/hospital tank with.

Any chance I leave the tank fallow for 4 weeks (giving a week to get everything settled back in before leaving for vacation) and get lucky? Is it a waste of time to treat at all? I don't know what else to do at this point. I'm pretty certain there will be losses if I try to fight this in the display with feeding, water quality, etc.

Fish include a 4" Kole, Midas Blenny, Royal Gramma, Yellowtail Damsel, small Clown, and a pair of Mandarins (these could be trouble). Am I crazy to attempt all of these in plastic storage totes? I don't have access to decent size tanks on short notice. I do have a 12g (fishless for months) I could put a couple of the smaller, seemingly unaffected fish in. Only the Kole and Gramma have symptoms so far.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[HumbleFish]

According to this sticky, going 4 weeks fallow gives you a 84.1% chance of eradication. 5 weeks = 97.7% chance. IMO; those are pretty good odds. Worst case scenario, you suffer loses & have to treat/go fallow all over again when you get back from vacation. But those loses might happen anyway if you do nothing...

 

[Deinonych]

Look for a 40 gal breeder on Craigslist. That will comfortably hold all your fish. Leaving a tank fallow for only 4 weeks is way too risky IMO. If you can start TTM within the next week, your fish will be done with treatment well before you leave on vacation, and you can transfer everyone into the 40 gal for observation post-treatment. Alternatively, you can move everyone into the 40 gal and treat with copper (again completing treatment prior to leaving). Add a bottle of Bio-spira and you can start treatment immediately without worrying about ammonia. This will make it easy for your pet-sitter -- all he/she has to do is feed them while you are away.

 

[tjsmk8]

According to this sticky, going 4 weeks fallow gives you a 84.1% chance of eradication. 5 weeks = 97.7% chance. IMO; those are pretty good odds. Worst case scenario, you suffer loses & have to treat/go fallow all over again when you get back from vacation. But those loses might happen anyway if you do nothing...

Thanks for the link. I've read a ton of ich threads over the years, but never that one. Those odds are somewhat promising.

 

[tjsmk8]

Look for a 40 gal breeder on Craigslist. That will comfortably hold all your fish. Leaving a tank fallow for only 4 weeks is way too risky IMO. If you can start TTM within the next week, your fish will be done with treatment well before you leave on vacation, and you can transfer everyone into the 40 gal for observation post-treatment. Alternatively, you can move everyone into the 40 gal and treat with copper (again completing treatment prior to leaving). Add a bottle of Bio-spira and you can start treatment immediately without worrying about ammonia. This will make it easy for your pet-sitter -- all he/she has to do is feed them while you are away.

I hadn't considered the TTM in totes and then moving to a single larger tank. I should be able to come up with one 40 or 55. My only concern would be the Mandarins long term in a mostly bare tank. I'll have to give this some thought. Thanks for the idea.

 

[HumbleFish]

My only concern would be the Mandarins long term in a mostly bare tank.

Nutramar Ova will sustain them, but it must be fed multiple times per day. I sustained my pair that way for 9 weeks in QT.

 

[tjsmk8]

That wasn't fun! We've finally started TTM tonight, but getting everyone out was a chore. The fish are VERY stressed, but hopefully they settle down overnight. I'll be getting a 40B setup during the two weeks of transfer for the QT tank while the display sits fallow. I'm pretty sure I'll ttm/qt all new additions after this experience. Thanks for all the help.