can i move one filter to a different tank

[EvaporatingFish]

so my 45G tank had an ick outbreak. i had just swapped the substrate to white sand from black gravel so i didnt notice the early signs. i thought it was just sand on the cherry barbs (beginner mistake). only three of the fish remain and they seem to be getting better. my girlfriend has a 10G tank and i just bought her a 20G for her mollys and platies. and i bought a fluval canister for my 45G. so im going to turn the 10G tank into a quarantine tank (until i can afford a 29 or bigger) so i can avoid this situation again.

my question is, is the filter in my 45G infected with ick too? my goal is too move the 3 remaining fish in my 45G to my 10G quarantine tank, set up the canister for my 45G tank, and move the current filter (aquaclear 50) to my girlfriends 20G tank. i want to do a deep clean/purge on the infected 45G tank and set it up as if its brand new so it can cycle again with the new canister. im fairly new to fish keeping and could use some advice.

TL;DR can i move a filter from a tank infected with ick into a non infected tank with fish in it without problems.

 

[venymae]

at a temp of 80F ich life cycle is about 1 week long. I would let it run fishless/symptomless for two weeks just to make sure all the ich has died, OR if you no longer have fish in there, crank the heat up to 90F to make it go even faster. Just my opinion.

 

[BBradbury]

Hello Mr...

Parasites live in most fish tanks. They're dormant waiting for the right water conditions. Like for instance, a missed water change or two or three. A water heater that quits working and allows the water temp to drop suddenly. These things stress the fish and create breaks in the skin, so parasites can infect them. Fish in well maintained tanks where there are frequent, large water changes, good vacuuming and a bit of aquarium salt added to stimulate the immune system and fed a good diet are rarely, if ever infected.

Get some aquarium salt into the tank. Livebearing fish like Guppies, Swordtails, Platys and Mollies prefer it. A teaspoon or even a bit more in every 5 gallons of new, treated tap water is fine. The amount will retard the growth of any tank parasites and improve the fishes' health in general. A little heated water used when you do your water change is helpful. 80 degrees is fine. Bump up the temperature in the tank too. The fish and plants will easily tolerate the mid 80s for 10 days or so. Any parasites should be out of action by this time. Then, you can return the tank settings to normal.

Improve your tank management routine by changing half the tank water every week in smaller tanks up to 30 gallons. The larger tanks can go a couple of weeks between those 50 percent changes.

Most if not all, tank problems are water related. Flush a lot of pure, treated tap water through the tank and your fish and plants will be fine.

Hope I answered most of your concerns.

B

 

[Caliban07]

B's advice is spot on

Although when turning the temperature up I would do it slowly. Increments of 1 degree at a time over the course of day or 2

 

[EvaporatingFish]

I did water changes/ cleaning with a siphon vac every Thursday of 25%. The tank always looked spotless. Heater stayed at 78 at all times. In my previous thread about ick, the guy said it could've been due to the 3 week cycle I did in the new tank. But everything was fine until I changed the substrate and added ghost shrimp from petco. That's when I first saw signs of ick but didn't know because it was my first encounter. I now have the 3 remaining fish in an old 10g with water and the filter from my 45g. I've set up my canister cleaned the 45g. I'll let it run for at least a month or longer to cycle before putting new fish in.