How long for ich to die off?

[sen5241b]

I know this question has been asked many times but I am hearing conflicting things. The LFS person said from the last sign of ich its only 2 weeks.

Situation: I removed a fish with ich but the other 2 fish had no signs of ich and I left them in the tank. So, if no fish are hosting the ich, how long before it dies off? Also I am almost certain the fish I removed had Oodinium which is a parasite but not ich proper.

 

[daugherty]

if you left the other fish in the tank than there will always be ich in that tank you need to take the fish out medicate them for 3-4 weeks to get rid of it and leave nothing else in the tank but inverts snd it will die unless you do that there will always be ich in the tank.

 

[Bifferwine]

Daugherty is right, ich will be present on the fish, but it won't be showing. As long as you have any fish hosts in the tank, ich will be in the tank. The only way to eliminate ich from the tank is to remove ALL the fish (even the ones that aren't showing symptoms, because they still have it), and leave the tank fishless for about 6 weeks. I have never heard of it disappearing after 2 weeks, and it certainly won't disappear if you have any fish in the tank.

 

[cthegame]

+1 James & Biff

 

[mblack]

as above, you will need to remove all fish and treat separately with copper for around 2 weeks (which may be where the LFS was coming from). Your main tank will need to remain fallow for at least 6 weeks (I would probably wait for 10 just to be sure)

 

[Hornet]

Everybody already has you covered but if you want something extra to read here a link to a good article explaining the life cycle of marine ich.

 

[Teixeira29]

+2 James & Biff and everyone else have you covered!

 

[daugherty]

as above, you will need to remove all fish and treat separately with copper for around 2 weeks (which may be where the LFS was coming from). Your main tank will need to remain fallow for at least 6 weeks (I would probably wait for 10 just to be sure)

it takes longer than two weeks being treated with copper to get rid of it completely.

 

[daugherty]

double post

 

[cthegame]

Most of my fish that got ich were treated within a 2-3 week period. But since your tank needs to be without fish for over 6 weeks, you might as well treat the fish for the same duration to be on the safe side.

Having said that, you run the risk of getting ich in the tank each time you introduce a fish without a 2-3 quarantine period.

 

[jhnrb]

The cycle is 10 days from cyst to cyst, and a min. of 3 weeks with no fish to host, I prefer 3 months to get rid of um in the tank, however, once the fish are put back in, you may just reintroduce um. ich only becomes a problem when the fish are sick or stressed and then their resistance breaks down and the ich blooms, a cleaner wrasse or goby is a must imo for keep fish frees of skin paracites. good luck.

 

[jhnrb]

The treatment for ich does not kill the cyst in the substrait, only the live ich so when the ich turns to multible cysts and drop off the fish they are protected until they hatch and reemerge into the water collum. hope this helps. UV sterilization also helps to control ich.