how long to keep fish out to kill ich?

[alex656]

well I just had another ich outbreak in my 220. This one was terrible. It seems fine then go's nuts. I havnt been able to add fish for some time, even after qt a healthy fish is attacked and is dead in two days. I pulled all my lr and caught all my fish and put them in qt. Only inverts and corals in my tank, how long should I leave itvlike this and is there anything I can do to speed it up? My uv is running and everything else, please help! I an so tired of ich taking out my fish!

[hatfielj]

I'm in the same boat as you. In fact, what's really frustrating for me is that I have 4 healthy wrasses (2 fairys, a leopard, and a yellow coris) that never show any signs of ich at all, but the second I add another fish, like a tang for instance, the ich flares up and kills the tang and leaves the other fish alone. I know this has everything to do with where the fish sleep at night, but it is really frustrating because it is going to be next to impossible to catch those wrasses.
I need to purchase a qt tank now and do what you did, leave the tank empty of fish for sometime. I don't know how long its going to take, but I've heard of alot of people say 6-8 weeks.
If I actually go to the trouble of removing all the fish, I might try to keep it empty for longer...maybe 3 full months, then try again?

[baobao]

no - you can avoid the trouble and just treat tank with chloroquine phosphate.

[spike78]

6 weeks is often considered the minimum with a full 8 weeks better. I went the full 8 weeks and have yet to have another problem.

baobao - My understanding is that the only proven techniques for ridding Ich is Copper, Hypo, or absence of hosts for a period of time.

[e55MD]

I am running my DT fallow at the moment for ich. Just finished week 2. I am going to go a full 8 weeks.

[RR14]

I had a ich outbreak last week. Put all my fish in a hospital tank. I am going to run my tank fallow without host for 8 weeks. If your willing to wait 6 weeks then an additional 2 weeks for added safety shouldn't be a problem.