Massive Ich! Rebuild tank?

[CiRXSi]

A friend of mine has a 38 that has been up for 2-3 months. For the last two weeks he has been having a massive Ich issue. All he has left in the tank now that has survived is guppys, platys, and 1 or 2 peppered corys. The corys are still recovering, but everyone else is completely fine. He hasn't had carbon in there for a week due to treatments, and his heater isn't strong enough to get to 86 degrees. The possibility has arose of starting over. We're thinking of setting up a 10G QT, and using my water and media to start this tank. If the peppered's aren't clear yet, they'll go in a separate QT til they're clean. Then this weekend, we might rebuild his tank. He has read something about if there are no hosts available for 4 hours, than the Ich will die off. Is this correct? Has anyone else heard of this? If that is the case, we could just shut down his tank (no fish) for the weekend and all would be good. Or should we start over? If so, we'd again use some of my water/media to start, but what else would you guys suggest? Thanks for bearing with the long post.

 

[grimlock3000]

For the last two weeks he has been having a massive Ich issue. All he has left in the tank now that has survived is guppys, platys, and 1 or 2 peppered corys. The corys are still recovering, but everyone else is completely fine. He hasn't had carbon in there for a week due to treatments

By treatments, I presume you mean Ich medicine. Medicine treatments are basically poisons which can somtimes kill off some fish just as fast as the Ich can

and his heater isn't strong enough to get to 86 degrees. The possibility has arose of starting over. We're thinking of setting up a 10G QT, and using my water and media to start this tank.

Ich has a really nasty tendacy to come back weeks after it has been "cleared up" by meds. Even though the Guppies and Platies do not have Ich visible on their bodies, they could have Ich parasites in their gils. It is very difficult to be certain that Ich is gone for good w/o proper high temp treatment. The real simple solution here it to get a better heater. Rebuilding an entire tank becuase someone has a crappy heater is going through a lot of trouble.

 

[Menagerie]

Ich has a really nasty tendacy to come back weeks after it has been "cleared up" by meds, and just because the Guppies and Platies do not have Ich visible, they could have Ich parasites in their gils. It is very difficult to be certain that Ich is gone for good w/o proper high temp treatment.

I agree with grimlock. 4 hours is nothing for that parasite to live without a host. I would QT the cories (they are not found of high temps), get another heater and treat the tank the way it is with heat and salt.

 

[jsoong]

He has read something about if there are no hosts available for 4 hours, than the Ich will die off. Is this correct?

How long ich can survive without host is temperature dependent. At fish tank temp, 4 DAYS is the time often quoted, although a week is prob better.

If the tank temp is lower, the time is increased. Ich is said to be able to overwinter in outdoor ponds if the temp is low enough.

 

[ttimmer10]

You know I would tend to agree with jsoong, 4 hours seems WAY to short of a time to expect ich to completely die off. Remember that the part on the fish is only one portion of the life cycle of the parasite. furthermore, remember that the stages in the substrate are not all the same "age". You may have parasites that are "old" and ready to begin the fish portion of the life cycle and others that are just beginning the substrate portion. I would once again agree with the idea of AT LEAST a week until it is all gone

Also, check the active ingredients on the ich treatment, one of them is formalin, which is usually used to preserve dead animals (i.e. fish, insects, and reptiles) so it is likely that your medicine will kill some of your fish too

 

[coldsteel]

My brother recently had a problem with his 55 gallon, and the workers at Jacks aquarium and pets told him that after all the fish are quarintined, you should wait two weeks until you can put more fish in.

 

[Allivymar]

*nods and agrees*

At 80F the life cycle is about a week; to have the life cycle be only 4 hours would require temps so high the ich would die before it got a chance to get thru the life cycle.

Also, don't forget ich only needs the fish for ONE part of its 3 stage cycle. Pulling the fish will not guarantee the parasites will all die off without hosts for a while, depending on the tank temps.

Not sure if you read my ich article here; if not, definitely check it out: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=32

 

[CiRXSi]

I had read your article before I had posted this, and we were aware of the 3 stages. The 4 hour thing, I got from him (something he read elsewhere). But by the sounds of it, I either misunderstood something he said, or he was given wrong info. (Quite common in this hobby ) We'll be heading to the store on Saturday for whatever he decides on. Assuming we go the stronger heater route, I just hope we can save his cats. He's lost too many fish already.

 

[madasafish]

The heat treatment is really *the* safest and best way to get rid of pesky ol' ich, and I've been doing it for the last 3 weeks to kill off the lil' parasites in my tank. Worked like a charm. I, too, had problems getting my tank up to 86F with one heater. My rec is to buy a second heater now and get the temp up as soon as possible. Meds are just killers--erythromycin was peddled as a comprehensive paracide (?), fungicide, etc. but it really only works on one type of bacteria--cyanobacteria. I think I weakened a lot of my fish when I first started with fish, as I thought I could get rid of ich with meds. It just keeps on coming back.

So, verdict: get another heater, get the temp up to 86 and keep it there for 3 weeks or so.