Fish infected with ich and didn't make it. How long will my tank take to clear up fro

[nessybehr]

The tank has been empty for a week. I took the carbon out of the filter when I was trying to treat the goldfish. Should I put the carbon back in yet? How can I keep treating this issue. I've done plenty of water changes as well

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[ImACoolguy]

If no fish are left I would change all 100% of the water and let it sit a few weeks to make sure it's all gone.


Caleb

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[nessybehr]

But what about the gravel? I'm trying to prevent recycling the tank

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[ImACoolguy]

As long as you leave water inside the filter and use a dechlorinator on the new water you won't need to recycle


Caleb

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[nessybehr]

Yah I've done that cool

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[TMRC Exotics]

You said you removed the carbon, was it inside a foam bag? If so did you remove the bag itself because the porous surfaces in the filter pad house much of your good bacteria.

Its generally accepted that there isn't a lot of BB in the gravel, I personally believe there is some but not a huge amount. If you don't want to remove the gravel vacuum it thoroughly as this where the ich spends the majority of its life cycle.

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[nessybehr]

The filter is still there

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[TMRC Exotics]

I want to say around 2 1/2 weeks since the last sign of ich before its safe but I'm not positive on that, ive only had to deal with it a few times.

Just vacuum that gravel very well and be patient. I would do like 75% water change then 24 hours later follow up with another 50-75% change if your not wanting to fully drain (which isn't usually a necessity).

Edit to add: I did a quick Google search and the consensus seems to vary on how long until you are ich free. I saw some suggest 7 days after the last sign and some up to a month. I would probably wait 14-18 days to be safe IMO.

 

[nessybehr]

Ok so now that I've done all that can I add my carbon filters back in? I have the main filter running but want to start my under water gravel filter

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[ImACoolguy]

Ok so now that I've done all that can I add my carbon filters back in? I have the main filter running but want to start my under water gravel filter

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Side note make sure you clean the undergravel filter every now and then. It will clean like it's supposed to but I have heard they can trap waste underneath it.


Caleb

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[nessybehr]

The store told me to get rid of the gravel but that has good bacteria in it. Can't I put new water in and let it filter for a week or two

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[TMRC Exotics]

In my opinion the amount of good bacteria there is negligible. I don't think its worth keeping solely on the grounds of good bacteria. However I think you could keep the gravel start up both filters and wait 10-14 days on adding fish.

However if you were to take the stores advice you could remove your filter, keep all the media wet and add new gravel and new water without too much worry of cycling. In the same respect as your tank sits without an ammonia source some of your good bacteria will begin reducing.

Either way will work, its up to you how to proceed.

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[Angela1108]

Well since you don't have any fish in the tank you can also crank the heat up as high as it will go and add salt or if you have ich treatment left keep dosing it without the carbon in. At 89 degrees ich gets killed and at 86ish it stops reproducing as much. Now that there are no fish you don't have to worry about oxygen and it getting two hot.


They say to treat a few days after the last visible spot so it would be the same as treating a few days since you last had fish


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