FO Tank died off from ich, what to do???

wakbrdfr · 03-08-2007, 11:35 AM

I two weeks ago put a new fish into my tank which had no signs of ich and then did and died off. The only other fish I had died off from the same thing yesterday.

All inverts: cleaner shrimp and astrea snails are fine. By the way this is a 20 gal. bow-front.

My question is this: I want to stock the tank, what measures do I need to take in getting the tank ready for fish? Do I need to treat the water? Waht do I need to do in this situation, in full?

Any help here would be greatly appreciated!

**Phurst** · 03-08-2007, 11:59 AM

Since you have inverts in the tank, you will have to let it go fallow (NO FISH) for 8 weeks. This will break the ich lifecycle so new fish are not infected.

You should also consider a QT in the future to avoid getting your main tank re-infected.

wakbrdfr · 03-08-2007, 12:06 PM

Definitely did the QT and had no signs of ich, so that is why I put him in the tank. Must have missed it.

So in 8 weeks is the cylce, does it just die off??

**Phurst** · 03-08-2007, 12:14 PM

Yes, 8 weeks is about right. The parasites need fish as an intermediate host, without them, they are unable to continue reprodicing and will die out.

wakbrdfr · 03-08-2007, 12:16 PM

Anything else I can do in the meantime (8 weeks) to better success when this cylce is over?

**Phurst** · 03-08-2007, 12:32 PM

I don't think there's any way to determine when the cycle is broken, but 8 weeks is on the long side of estimates, so it sgould be a safe timeframe. Warmer water speeds up the life cycle, so you may want to slowly increase the temp to about 82 (assuming your inverts don't object), but i would still wait the full 8 weeks.

wakbrdfr · 03-08-2007, 01:06 PM

What is a good indication that my inverts would object to the warmer water?

**Phurst** · 03-08-2007, 01:10 PM

They start dying :-)

Really, that may be your first clue. They may stop eating, become listless, but they may just start dying off.

wakbrdfr · 03-08-2007, 01:16 PM

o-kee-doke-ee... Easy enough. Thanks for the help here.

**Seahorsedreams** · 03-08-2007, 01:37 PM

Remember to feed your bacteria with some source of ammonia while it lays fallow or your tank will lose it's biofilter.

wakbrdfr · 03-08-2007, 01:51 PM

Good point any suggestions?

**Seahorsedreams** · 03-08-2007, 08:48 PM

I use pure ammonia but a I know others have thrown in a cube of food every few days.

lanesreef · 03-10-2007, 09:56 PM

How about lowering the salinity slowly and slightly as well? Anyone know about this? I would be careful with your inverts but a slight adjustment down and they may handle it. Again just a thought without much to back it up...maybe someone has an opinion?

I would also suggest adding a UV sterilizer in the mean time to help kill off ich and other parasites.

**Phurst** · 03-10-2007, 10:04 PM

I think hyposalynity treatment calls for levels of 1.009, I believe, which is way too low for inverts IMO. Anything above that is not effective in killing the parasite.

UV may help kill it off, but it will not speed up the wait...

**Seahorsedreams** · 03-11-2007, 12:51 AM

Yes, the hypo we use for our horses are 1.009 measured with a refractometer... nothing else. This cannot be done in the presence of inverts.

**CarmieJo** · 03-16-2007, 09:59 PM

I don't know how long you QT'd your fish for but due to the lifecycle of ich a 4 week QT period is your best bet to avoid this in the future. Keeping your tank parameters stable will help to avoid stressing your fish. Stress can lead to ich. Outside of that I soak my food in garlic and vitamins to help keep my fish healthy by boosting their immune system.

wakbrdfr · 03-21-2007, 10:52 AM

What kind of garlic and vitamins do you suggest?

***Rob*** · 03-21-2007, 05:29 PM

as noted neither will cure Ich, however, they may make the fish better able to resist it..
i use Selcon and Kent Garlic Extreme