when to add fish after ich

[bbowler1]

I had an ich outbreak a couple weeks ago that claimed 2 fish. I believe it was caused by a PH issue that stressed a fish out and then spread. The PH issue is fixed now. There is 1 fish left in the tank that does not exhibit any signs and seems to continue to eat as normal. At what point can new specimens be added?

[FishN00b83]

You need to get the last fish out and leave the tank fallow for weeks to kill off the ich and treat the remaining fish in QT. If you goto the disease section you'll find stickies on how to deal with ich and other parasites.

[Sugar Magnolia]

Yes, the tank needs to be fishless for 8 to 12 weeks to kill off all cycles of the ich.

[Shawn O]

I believe it was caused by a PH issue that stressed a fish out and then spread. The PH issue is fixed now.

PH does not cause an ich outbreak. The presence of ich causes the outbreak. If you never let ich into your system then you will never have an outbreak. It's the same with any other animal, if you don't put a butterflyfish into your tank you will have no butterflyfish in your system.

Leave your tank fish-less for 72 days or more. Your tank will then be ich-free. Treat your fish in one of the following ways; treat your fish with copper (if they are tolerant of it), run hypo-salinity or do the Tank Transfer Method (TTM) to rid the fish of the parasite.

Good luck with your tank and animals.

[bbowler1]

Thanks, I am really bumming. No QT tank that will support a fish for that long. I guess I would have to rip my tank apart to catch him and hold at LFS.

[Shawn O]

How large is the fish? You can use just about anything as a QT, even a 5 gal bucket if the fish is small enough. A pair of 10 gal tanks will let you do TTM and once the fish is parasite-free you can use the WC water from the qt to do WCs on your DT. A brute trash can can serve as a long-term QT.

[soulpatch]

I have used a storage tote from Home Depot as a qt tank before for my larger FW fish. Just make sure you get the stronger ones and while they do bow slightly they work out great.

Taking the fish back to the LFS does not negate the need to QT that fish when you bring it back home. You can't take it somewhere, bring it back, and put it in your tank thinking all will be fine. Anything you bring to put in your tank should be QT before it hits the DT

[tmz]

The tank has ich now. It will very likely persist as long as there is a single fish in it. Cysts have remained viable for up to 72 days. PH is not the cause.

[Bmwm235i]

Going through the same thing at the moment. I have 42 more day until my dt will be fish less for 72 days. My qt tank is getting treated with copper which ends this coming week. I perform a 3 gallon water change on a 15 gal qt tank every 3 days. Get an ammonia badge helps some. It does suck but the upside is you have time to buy more corals! Qt every new fish and treat with copper and prazipro before they go into a dt tank, if they show signs of anything.