Will ich still survive?

[obscurereef]

I got a used tank from a guy who had fish w/ ich. He had just coral for 6 weeks and no fish. Can ich still be living in the sand, rock, or attached to some hermits/nassarius snails?

 

[Squidly]

I lost a coral beauty from ich and didn't put anything else in my tank for about 2 months just to be sure that it would die off without a host. However, I did have 2 clowns in the tank with the fish that had ich and they never caught it. I think it all depends on the fishes immune system but the ich will eventually die off without a host I guess the question is how long will that take!

 

[Mebbid]

8 weeks is accepted as a guarantee that all the ich will be gone. Any less and there is a possibility that there might be some left.

Fish can develop an immunity to it and will stay that way for approx. 11 months if they don't get exposed to it again

 

[obscurereef]

I filled the entire system with water w/ vinegar (tank & sump). Could the ich still survive that?

So I'm assuming it can't still be in the sand or rock..only in the water if it was alive?

 

[Mebbid]

I filled the entire system with water w/ vinegar (tank & sump). Could the ich still survive that?

So I'm assuming it can't still be in the sand or rock..only in the water if it was alive?

The free swimming version only lives for about 12 hours, the 8 weeks is when it is living in the sand and rocks. As for if vinegar would kill it or not, I have no idea. I guess that would depend on what your pH went to, but i'm not sure of the pH tolerance of ich

 

[TheTodd]

I would think at 6 weeks fallow, you are reasonably safe. If you actually drained the tank, cleaned it with water and vinegar, I would feel pretty confident its all gone. I would imagine just the straight freshwater would kill it, as its basically super-hypo.

 

[obscurereef]

Thanks. There were some leftover hermits & snails that I put in my tank with fish so I was a bit worried that somehow they could carry the ich, but 6 weeks without food seems like long enough. I'm not using the old sand, the rock is pretty dried out, and I'm rinsing the tank. Thanks for everyone's help.

 

[mr_X]

I filled the entire system with water w/ vinegar (tank & sump). Could the ich still survive that?

So I'm assuming it can't still be in the sand or rock..only in the water if it was alive?

You submerged the rock in vinegar also? To answer your question, no. Nothing is going to live through that. This rock and sand will have to be rinsed thoroughly. before re-cycling it.

 

[obscurereef]

Well no the rock isn't in there. Most of it is completely dry. Some a tad damp, but not enough that something could still survive on it...I hope. I'll rinse the rock, but I decided to get new sand instead. Thanks.

 

[Mebbid]

Ahh I gotcha. I assumed vinegar was added to the tank with water still in it. Guess I should stop posting right before I go to bed