Question About Hypo Time And Ick

[Tony25]

I know that in order for the ick cycle to end the main tank must be fishless for 8 weeks.

All my curent fish have had a 8 week hypo and ive never had signs of ick since doing this.

What about for all the ick to die off in hypo? Takes 6-8 weeks still?
If i buy a powder blue today will it need the full 6-8 weeks in hypo in order to not introduce ick to my tank?

My tank has been ick free for over a year.

 

[Tony25]

I know it can survive 8 weeks in 1.025. But what about in 1.009?

 

[lilchris]

Yes, between 6 to 8 wks is the amount of time you want to HYPO. Make sure you drop the salinity over a course of a bout a week keep it at target level for 4 to 5 weeks and then raise back to 1.025 over a course of a week.

 

[Snowboarda42]

Then, I would personally wait another 8 weeks just to see if anything else pops up...

 

[Tony25]

You know there is no need to slowly lower the salinity its raising it fast that will kill your fish.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11921183#post11921183 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by lilchris
Yes, between 6 to 8 wks is the amount of time you want to HYPO. Make sure you drop the salinity over a course of a bout a week keep it at target level for 4 to 5 weeks and then raise back to 1.025 over a course of a week.

 

[Hal]

Re: Question About Hypo Time And Ick

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11920569#post11920569 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Tony25
I know that in order for the ick cycle to end the main tank must be fishless for 8 weeks.

Kind of. Ich can hang around forever in theory as long as there is a host. If no host (i.e. a fishless tank) then 3-4 weeks at normal reeftank temps should be just fine to get rid of it. That's why in addition to the main tank remaining fishless, you need to treat each of the fish for ich in a separate QT too.

Note that the higher the tank temp, the shorter the lifecycle of ich.

See this:
The Ich Bible

For a discussion on hypo, see this:
All you've ever wanted to know about hyposalinity but were afraid to ask

You'll note that most experts agree that a single lifecycle of ich takes 7 days.

While hypo treatment of 6-8 weeks is fine, it's really longer than necessary. Again, 3-4 weeks is enough to contain multiple lifecycles of ich, and you technically only need to interupt ONE lifecycle to kill the parasite. The extra time is just being extra cautious in case an ich parasite somehow manages to live through the first treatment cycle, which is theoretically impossible, but as a practical matter, weird things have been known to happen in nature before.

 

[Hal]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11922841#post11922841 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Tony25
You know there is no need to slowly lower the salinity its raising it fast that will kill your fish.

Yeah... I don't think so. While you can lower the salinity faster than you raise it without harming the fish, rapid changes in the water chemistry is never a good idea. Again, see my link on hypo above.

 

[reefergeorge]

Re: Re: Question About Hypo Time And Ick

Re: Re: Question About Hypo Time And Ick

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11928996#post11928996 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Hal
Kind of. Ich can hang around forever in theory as long as there is a host.

Not true. A single strain of ich dies off after about 11 months. So if no other strain is added you will not have ich in your tank after 11 months.

 

[Hal]

Thanks for the clarification.

Of course, you'll see that I included "in theory", which I believe is still technically correct. And since you people are so nice, you'll never call me on it.