I posted a question on how to rid my tank of ich a while back. While I think some of the answers worked, my fish were far too sick to survive. What are the best steps to start over? I plan on draining the whole tank and refilling before I start adding fish. What can I clean the rocks and stuff with to inusre healthy fish in the future? Thanks for all your answers.
2006-12-29 06:13:06 · 2 answers · asked by romanster2 3 in Pets ➔ Fish
You can use some water with a little chlorine bleach in it or simply fill you tank with water and let it set for two weeks. Ich will die without something to seed on.
2006-12-29 06:31:52 · answer #1 · answered by curious george 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In the case of a saltwater tank, the best bet is to leave it fallow (no fish) for 4-8 weeks. The longer the better, as ich's lifecycle is believed to be around 28 days. Without a host for that period of time it will largely die out. Add fish in slowly after the fallow period as your biological filter will have taken a hit. You can leave in the tank any live rock, snails, crabs, corals, or other inverts. They can't host ich.
Or you can take everything out, drain the tank,and use a solution of bleach and water on everything that was in the tank. See also: nuke and pave, but then you're essentially starting from scratch and will also need to cycle the tank again. Regardless of which you choose, I would bleach your equipment - nets, scrapers, inanimate ornaments, and then rinse them very well in fresh water before using them again. Ich can live on any wet surface. It's very persistent.
Freshwater ich is far less deadly and can be tamed with the suggestion above. A good cleaning and some dechlor when you put the water back in.
2006-12-29 06:50:34 · answer #2 · answered by Sil 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋