Do You Think The Ich Is Gone?

[Mikaila31]

It has been about 3 weeks since I removed all the fish from my planted tank. They where treated for ich in the quaritine tank and the main tank was left to sit, because there where a large number of cherry shrimp and plants that are sensitive to most ich meds. The temp has been at 78oF with no salt and about 40% water changes every week. Do you think the ich is gone? Or would you wait longer, if so how much longer?

cheers,
Mikaila31

 

[BigC]

You need to understand the lifecycle of Ich.
http/edis.ifas.ufl.edu/FA006
Perhaps should have removed the shrimp, upped the temp and treated the tank with meds.
Regards
BigC

 

[Mikaila31]

So, you think it is still in there ?
I would of removed the shrimp, but I don't have anywhere to put them. On top of that there are over 100 of them, even if I am able to get them all out. All the common and good meds will kill all the plants and pest snails in the tank too. So in the end I would only have the wood and rocks left. I have been told that the shrimp and snails can't get ich, so I though I could get rid of it if I removed all the fish from the tank. Will this not work and am I wasting my time waiting for the ich to starve? I have upped the temp to 80oF and I'm not sure if the shrimp can tolerate salt.

 

[BigC]

You are in a bit of a prediciment here arn't you. You must be very sucessful in breeding shrimp then. OK if it were me I would take out a few shrimp and keep them in anything (new and clean washing up basins). Then I would up the temp and treat with a diluted dose of the Med. over a longer timescale, performing regular waterchanges as I went along. (No Carbon Filtration)
Now you may or may not loose some shrimp depending on their tolerance to the chemicals, but atleast you'll have you breeding adults to start a new colony.
Try Paraguard from Seachem( non copper based).
<a href="http/www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/ParaGuard.html" target="_blank">http/www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/ParaGuard.html</a>
Read the FAQ's at the bottom of the page.
Regards
BigC

 

[andywg]

FW Ich cannot host on shrimp and has no dormant life stage. The lifecycle is around 14 days, so I would just leave the tank without fish for 4-5 weeks and then you can be pretty sure there is nothing left in there.

The best page on the internet to read on ich is the Skeptical Aquarist page