Corals in a tank with ich

[Ryan5]

Recently my tank has been infected with ich. All my fish are in a QT tank and Im in the middle of waiting mode till it goes through its cycle and dies out. Its been a few weeks since I moved them to my QT and I have been itching for awhile to finally start putting corals in my tank. I know corals and inverts cant get ich but is it a good idea to go ahead and put the corals in there right now while I am waiting the ich out or should I just be patient and wait till their cycle is through and then go ahead and put them in.

 

[Hondatek]

I would do it now. They can't get ick and the ick can't infest them but they can surely carry it over into your tank if they are in a tank that is infested

 

[Ryan5]

would adding a shrimp or two be ok also?

 

[Hondatek]

Yep add all the coral or inverts you want then start the 6-8 week fallow countdown and you tank will be ick free.

 

[don_chuwish]

Yep add all the coral or inverts you want then start the 6-8 week fallow countdown and you tank will be ick free.

Exactly, the new countdown starts when you last added something new. ANY untrusted water could be a source of new infestation. So if you're already a few weeks fallow you may want to wait out the full 8 weeks before adding anything new.

- D

 

[Ryan5]

Exactly, the new countdown starts when you last added something new. ANY untrusted water could be a source of new infestation. So if you're already a few weeks fallow you may want to wait out the full 8 weeks before adding anything new.

- D

So if I was going to put corals or any inverts in I should have already done it at the beginning?

 

[don_chuwish]

In the interest of saving time, yes.

Reality check tho, even if you wait out the full 8 weeks before adding anything you'll still have the risk every time you add. Main thing is to be VERY careful about how you add new. You don't want ANY of the water they arrived in getting into your tank. For me that now means an acclimation & exclusion process like:
1 - drip acclimate:
- start with as little of the untrusted water as possible
- drip to double the water level, then dump half - do this three times
2 - exclude untrusted water:
- prepare a 2nd container of only water from DT
- hand or net transfer from acclimation container to the 2nd container
- hand or net transfer to DT after a swish/swim around for a bit

You can add any coral dipping & quarantine you may want to include.