Should I or shouldn't I? Please help

[byrdman81]

I have read numerous things on this subject and want to know if any of you have had experiece in keeping manderins in the DT while letting the tank go fishless for at least 8 weeks to rid the DT of ic? I should i pull the mandy and treat it as well? I wanna here some advice and results of people who have left them and or taken them out and treated with the rest of fish.

[byrdman81]

anyone have experience with this?

[Gwynhidwy]

Mandarins are NOT immune to ich. They tend to be more resistant than other fish due to their mucous coat, but your mandarin will need to be treated or it is very likely that the parasite will survive and your other fish will be reinfected when you put them back in the tank. In my opinion, if you aren't going to treat the mandarin you might as well not treat any of your fish.

[mr.wilson]

If you can catch it, then you might as well, but don't expose it to copper or malachite green. They are unlikely hosts for ich, but it's possible. Corals can also play as secondary hosts, so the waiting it out approach isn't as easy as you may think. Ich tomonts can also go dormant for extended periods of time, longer than the conventional 10-14 day cycle. I would wipe the tank down well and siphon the substrate to remove as many tomonts as possible. Running a diatom filter will also remove them if they are stirred up.