How do I rid my empty fish tank of ich before introducing new fish and without restarting the nitrite cycle?

Question

It took us over 2 months to get the nitrites stable in our new 10 gallon aquarium. We put our goldfish in the aquarium and everything was great for a few months. The 2 goldfish we had were lively and enjoying life and the water testing was right on track. Then we introduced about 4 more goldfish from the pet store. I came home from work the following evening and all of the fish were infected with ich covering 50% of their bodies. I quarentined them all to new water, but they all died. Our tank has been sitting empty for a month now (with the filter still running). We are not sure what to do from here. We don't want to go through another 7 week nitrite cycle. Any suggestions?

Right after my fish died, a snail hatched a bunch of baby snails. I have about 15 snails that survived and are growing. Would they be considered hosts?

Thankyou all for your answers. I can tell you are all informed fish enthusiasts.I think I'm going to eventually put the question to vote because I'm a beginner and really don't know good advice from not so good advice, but I trust that you all do.

Answer 1

I'm on the other side or the ich question from the last answer, I haven't seen enough evidence that ich can encyst or reproduce in low numbers to exist in a non harmful state in a tank. Not saying it doesn't happen, just that I haven't seen the evidence yet. Given that, I'm of the opinion you can simply let the ich die out as you maintain the nitrogen cycle bacteria.

Of course you can follow the salt / heat method of treatment as given above, it does kill ich and will not harm the cycle at all. Personally, even given the above, I would suggest you treat the tank with the salt / heat method to be extra sure the tank is clear of ich. So you can add me to the list that will get thumbs downs for supporting this treatment method.

I would also suggest you feed the tank during the treatment process. Add a pinch or two of fish food to the tank every day just as if you were feeding fish. This will produce the ammonia the bacteria need to stay alive and in sufficient numbers to maintain a cycle.

I do just this type of thing to maintain the cycle in a tank when it is empty of fish and it will prevent the need to recycle the tank. I do it to my quarantine tanks as a matter of routine so they are always ready for fish.

MM

Answer 2

I believe Ich needs a host to complete its life cycle. High temperatures speed up the life cycle of the parasite. In cool water such as 50 degrees farenheit the life cycle can be as much as 4 weeks, whereas if you turn the temp up to 85 degrees the life cycle will be as short as 4 days. You could turn your temp up for a week or so to make them die out and then add an inexpensive fish too see if he becomes infected. I think without fish in the tank, ich will die off, and your aquarium should be good to go without sterilizing everything and starting it over.

In addition to turning the temperature up, you could do a salt bath treatment on the empty tank, if you are so inclined. This treatment is usually done on fish with visible parasite and I haven't heard of it being done on an empty tank since most people would just break everything down and start over. But If it kills the parasite on the fish it should do the same for the tank. The salt will not harm your beneficial bacteria and it will definately kill the ich. You also do not have to remove any carbon from the filters. Add 1 tbsp of aquarium salt or pure salt (no iodine or addatives) for every gallon of water. After 10 days do a 40- 50% water change. And then another one or two 20% water changes over the next couple of days to get the salt levels to normal.

Goldfish actually prefer a little salt in their water, so it would do good to make it part of your water changing regimen. Dosages for routine freswater changes are on the box.

Look at the goldfish carefully before you purchase it. If anything about it, and the other fish in the same tank looks unhealthy or questionable do not purchase it and risk your other fish at home.

What type of goldfish did you have? Goldfish have potential to get really large (softball size) and 2 of them is enough for a 10g since a full grown one will need a whole 10g of water to itself.

Another thing for when adding fish to the aquarium: after the fish become acclimated, don't pour them and the water they came in, into the tank. Use a net to remove them from the bag and introduce them into the tank. The water from the store could contaminate your aquarium.

Answer 3

Ich will not live without a host. If your tank has been empty for 4 weeks it should be at the end of the ich life cycle. 6 weeks without fish will guarantee it is all gone. Unfortunatly though ich is present in almost every aquarium that has fish. Even though your tank does not have ich at the moment any fish you buy will have it. Ich is not normally visible on a fish and only shows up as the white spots when the fish gets stressed. From my count you had 7 goldfish in a 10 gallon aquarium? The final stocking of 4 new fish most likely stressed them out to much causing the ich to come out. Try to add fish slower and stay with a fewer number of fish. In your tank a copper based medication should be safe and copper is the only way to really treat ich in a freshwater system. Since you didn't change out all your water or substrate you should be fine on your cycle.

Treat your tank with a copper based ich treatment, and add in fish slowly. 1 or 2 to start. 7 is to many to have in a 10 gallon. With goldfish stick with the 1 gallon per inch of fish rule. If your fish will be 4 inches fully grown it will need 4 gallons of water.

Answer 4

Ich In Fish Tank

Answer 5

I'm also with the folks who believe that ich won't survive for long in a tank without a host.

If you have no other fish in the tank, you could try doing a "fishless" cycle. It's doubtful that after a month that you'd have many bacteria surviving in the tank without an ammonia source (you could have been adding a small bit of fish food or pure ammonia to the tank periodically to "feed" the bacteria to keep it going). You might want to try adding a little ammonia now and testing for a change to nitrites, but you may need to use a bacteria starter at this point.

I'd also recommend quarantining all future fish before adding them to an established tank so you prevent this from happening inthe future.

Answer 6

You can never completely rid your tank of ich. Most believe it is always present, but your fish have to be kept well enough to not get it. Water changes and keeping some aquarium salt will improve the health of fish (scaleless fish like catfish can only tolerate a little salt at most). This is my method of dealing with ich. It has worked for me for nearly 40 years, dozens of times, in dozens of tanks. I have close to 25 tanks running right now. I am a part time breeder. I have not had ich in over 2 years... I'll get thumbs down, but I KNOW this works for me, and it should work for you...

First step:
20-25% water change with gravel vac. Most likely your poor water conditions contributed to the outbreak of ich.
Second step:
Raise temperature (no more than 1° per hour) to 85°.
Third step:
Add aquarium salt (not table salt) in the amount of one rounded tablespoon per 5 gallons. If you have scaleless fish, reduce that to one rounded teaspoon per 5 gallons, as they don't tolerate salt.
http://www.aquariumpharm.com/en_us/productCategory.asp?categoryname=WaterConditioners
Fourth step:
After 24 hours, a second 20-25% water change. Add more salt. If you took 5 gallons out in the change, put another rounded tablespoon in. Adjust for your situation.
Fifth step:
Wait 24 hours.
Sixth Step:
A third water change of 20-25% and replace salt removed.
If this does not cure the fish, and no improvement is seen, you will want to use a commercial ich curative, such as copper sulfate like Aquarasol http://www.aq-products.com/APpro/aquarisol.htm
or in more extreme cases, Malachite Green
http://www.aq-products.com/APpro/quickcure.htm
Ich typically takes a week or more to cure. I never said kill ich, because you can't.

Good Luck

Answer 7

Try a bacteria starter, I heard they work pretty good.