Disinfecting After Ich?

[jonnyf84]

Hi all, i have had a bad time with my cold water tank, i had 2 goldfish and a koi carp living happily and healthy, i decided my koi needed some company so purchased another one from my lfs , it soon became apparent that it was sick and the disease has since killed my original 3 fish despite medicating , the carrier is still hanging in there but i'm sure it won't last much longer.

Once it has died how do i disinfect the tank, substrate and filter??? Can i still use the filter for my new stock?


Many thanks in advance,

Jonny

 

[WILDER]

Been answered in the emergency section of the forum.

 

[backtotropical]

Hi Jonny,

Whitespot shouldn't be a threat to any copper-based treatment.

I advise that you should continue the treatment until completed as per the instructions and at this point the whitespot should be dead. This is regardless of whether the fish survive. To be absolutely sure, some people redose the treatment straight after the first treatment is complete. Also, whitespot is a parasite and can't survive without a host (your fish), so with no fish in the tank, the whitespot will die off within a few days.

On the other hand, if you have no fish left, you may want to start over anyway?

Cheers

BTT

edit: Beat me to it, Wilder!

 

[WILDER]

Never answered the whitespot part was more concerned with koi being in the tank, as they should be kept in ponds only,

 

[jonnyf84]

great thankyou, so if i just drain everything and leave it standing then the white spot will just die? Yea i wasn't sure about the koi, i'v only ever seen them in ponds before but my lfs had them in tanks, they are babys, maybe 2 inches.

 

[raptorrex]

To be absolutely sure, some people redose the treatment straight after the first treatment is complete.

Whitespot shouldn't be a threat to any copper-based treatment.

are you sure on this? if only some do this, only some will get rid of their ICK. the parasite is only vulnerable to meds when its in its free swimming form. when its in the fish there is no way of treating it. so to eradicate ICK from a tank you need to treat the tank, then leave it several days, hiking the temp up speeds up the process, then treat again. its down to the life-cycle of the parasite. it finds and infects the fish, then when it has multiplied it releases the free form, and that swims around looking for a fish to infect. at this time, and only this time, is it vulnerable. so first treatment kills all the free forms in the water, then when the next batch of free form is released, you treat again. all being well that should be it, that said, it may turn out that a third treatment is needed.

i am also unsure why you say avoid copper treatments. though if you keep inverts they need removed.

 

[backtotropical]

To be absolutely sure, some people redose the treatment straight after the first treatment is complete.

Whitespot shouldn't be a threat to any copper-based treatment.

are you sure on this? if only some do this, only some will get rid of their ICK. the parasite is only vulnerable to meds when its in its free swimming form. when its in the fish there is no way of treating it. so to eradicate ICK from a tank you need to treat the tank, then leave it several days, hiking the temp up speeds up the process, then treat again. its down to the life-cycle of the parasite. it finds and infects the fish, then when it has multiplied it releases the free form, and that swims around looking for a fish to infect. at this time, and only this time, is it vulnerable. so first treatment kills all the free forms in the water, then when the next batch of free form is released, you treat again. all being well that should be it, that said, it may turn out that a third treatment is needed.

i am also unsure why you say avoid copper treatments. though if you keep inverts they need removed.

Yes, i am sure. Some people do it to be absolutely sure, however 1 dose of treatment should be enough. The whitespot parasite has a life cycle of around 5 days if i remember correctly and hence most treatments will last 6 or 7 days. Therefore, even if you don't re-dose, you should have done enough to eradicate the parasite.

The fact that the treatment lasts 1 or 2 days longer than the life cycle of the parasite should ensure that no 2nd generation parasites are left over after treatment.

I didn't advise to avoid copper-based treatments, i think you mis-read, or if my post was mis-leading, i apoligise.

 

[mr oscar]

koi carp should not be kept in aquariums they are very fast growing and need lots of food to thrive, give it to someone with a pond

 

[raptorrex]

To be absolutely sure, some people redose the treatment straight after the first treatment is complete.

Whitespot shouldn't be a threat to any copper-based treatment.

are you sure on this? if only some do this, only some will get rid of their ICK. the parasite is only vulnerable to meds when its in its free swimming form. when its in the fish there is no way of treating it. so to eradicate ICK from a tank you need to treat the tank, then leave it several days, hiking the temp up speeds up the process, then treat again. its down to the life-cycle of the parasite. it finds and infects the fish, then when it has multiplied it releases the free form, and that swims around looking for a fish to infect. at this time, and only this time, is it vulnerable. so first treatment kills all the free forms in the water, then when the next batch of free form is released, you treat again. all being well that should be it, that said, it may turn out that a third treatment is needed.

i am also unsure why you say avoid copper treatments. though if you keep inverts they need removed.

Yes, i am sure. Some people do it to be absolutely sure, however 1 dose of treatment should be enough. The whitespot parasite has a life cycle of around 5 days if i remember correctly and hence most treatments will last 6 or 7 days. Therefore, even if you don't re-dose, you should have done enough to eradicate the parasite.

The fact that the treatment lasts 1 or 2 days longer than the life cycle of the parasite should ensure that no 2nd generation parasites are left over after treatment.

I didn't advise to avoid copper-based treatments, i think you mis-read, or if my post was mis-leading, i apoligise.

humm i follow you, but would it not be better to remove the meds after about 24 hours, via water changes, and re dose the tank, as with several treatment? these chemicals are by nature very strong, leaving them in the tank when the parasite has been killed, till the next batch, seems pointless. i know several people who dose in stages, indeed the advice given here that i have read, say that too. its just 6-7 days in the toxic mix seems a bit much.

 

[backtotropical]

Aaaaaaahhhhhhh, there is confusion afoot.

I think my original post may have mislead you from what i was actually trying to say.

In my experience, most whitespot treatments will have a duration of 6 - 7 days as per the instructions, after which time the meds should be removed using activated carbon or water changes. This is where my quote of 6 - 7 days comes from, the instructions on the bottle. In particular, the med which i personally use, Waterlife Protozin, says to treat on days 1,2,3 and 6. I usually remove the meds by water change on the morning of day 8, hence the duration of the treatment is 7 days.

When i said to redose straight after, i meant after removing the previous batch of meds by water change or carbon. I didn't say that and i apoligise for the confusion.

I have used Waterlife Protozin several times with a dosing period of 7 days as above. It has never failed me yet.

I hope this makes my original post a bit clearer. Sorry again if it wasn't clear originally.

 

[raptorrex]

Aaaaaaahhhhhhh, there is confusion afoot.

I think my original post may have mislead you from what i was actually trying to say.

In my experience, most whitespot treatments will have a duration of 6 - 7 days as per the instructions, after which time the meds should be removed using activated carbon or water changes. This is where my quote of 6 - 7 days comes from, the instructions on the bottle. In particular, the med which i personally use, Waterlife Protozin, says to treat on days 1,2,3 and 6. I usually remove the meds by water change on the morning of day 8, hence the duration of the treatment is 7 days.

When i said to redose straight after, i meant after removing the previous batch of meds by water change or carbon. I didn't say that and i apoligise for the confusion.

I have used Waterlife Protozin several times with a dosing period of 7 days as above. It has never failed me yet.

I hope this makes my original post a bit clearer. Sorry again if it wasn't clear originally.

lol, case of six and two three's.

 

[andywg]

The whitespot parasite has a life cycle of around 5 days if i remember correctly and hence most treatments will last 6 or 7 days. Therefore, even if you don't re-dose, you should have done enough to eradicate the parasite.

Actually, the complete life cycle is often up to 14 days. The 5 days is close to the longest that the free swimming stage has to find a host to infect before dying, one must then take into accoutn the time spent on the fish and dividing on the substrate (when treatments are ineffective).

 

[raptorrex]

The whitespot parasite has a life cycle of around 5 days if i remember correctly and hence most treatments will last 6 or 7 days. Therefore, even if you don't re-dose, you should have done enough to eradicate the parasite.

Actually, the complete life cycle is often up to 14 days. The 5 days is close to the longest that the free swimming stage has to find a host to infect before dying, one must then take into accoutn the time spent on the fish and dividing on the substrate (when treatments are ineffective).

if you have ever suffered a case of ICK, how did you treat it, method, and with what.

 

[andywg]

I utilise UV. It is not a perfect system, but it has worked wellfor me thus far on FW and SW except for where I have let the bulbs go past 12 months old in th unit.

 

[backtotropical]

The whitespot parasite has a life cycle of around 5 days if i remember correctly and hence most treatments will last 6 or 7 days. Therefore, even if you don't re-dose, you should have done enough to eradicate the parasite.

Actually, the complete life cycle is often up to 14 days. The 5 days is close to the longest that the free swimming stage has to find a host to infect before dying, one must then take into accoutn the time spent on the fish and dividing on the substrate (when treatments are ineffective).

Ok. I'll take your word for it Andy because this is an area i am unsure of.

However, that being the case, how do we explain that a 7 day treatment of Protozin has cleared up Ich for me on several occasions? Surely if the life cycle was closer to 14 days, the 7 day treatment would either fail to clear up the parasite, or appear to kill it, only for it to return shortly after?

Also, why do the treatments not recommend 14 - 16 day courses? I don't think i've seen one that instructs to treat for that long.