If no Ich for a month in a reef w/ fish, is the tank Ich free?

[ToTaLCHaoS13]

I have a reef tank with fish in it and over a month ago my Royal Gramma had Ich. I left him in there and treated with only garlic which cleared it up and now, 5 weeks later I have not seen any Ich on him or any other fish. Given the life cycle of the Ich parasite can I now assume there is no longer Ich in my tank?

 

[Sk8r]

8 weeks. And some say ich can survive in the substrate until it finds a host. Some say not. You're probably in for a long arguementative thread, here.

 

[pelochas]

if i were you and planning on adding more fish, i would just remove all the fish and quaratine them. wait another 6 weeks. just my thought since i started to do this now. its also a good time to redo the rock work in the tank.

 

[jimmyj7090]

All debates aside, ick can easily remain present in the tank without showing visable signs.

It's very common for people to have no observable signs of ick for months at a time, only to see it reappear after a stress event or the addition of a new fish.

Not seeing it is very far from a gaurentee that the tank is clean.

 

[bderos]

I've heard Ich is always present in the tank. The fish fight it off with good immune systems and a healthy diet. Unless the fish get stressed then they can get it espically tangs. I've heard a UV sterilizer will help keep the water clean. I'm not what to believe.