Following Treatment For Ich How Long Before I Can Re-Introduce Shrimp+

[214jay]

Hello
 
I am halfway through treating white spot on my aquarium with fish in, using interpet White Spot Treatment (contains Formaldehyde and Malachite Green Oxalate - Not copper) .  I removed the snails and shrimp to a quarantine tank temporarily but am clearly concerned they have taken some ICH into the QT with them.
 
Should I give them a couple of weeks before introducing them back in to ensure any parasites have died?
 
Also, would this medication disappear on its own or should I put a carbon filter in to ensure its all removed?
 
Thanks!

 

[the_lock_man]

I definitely would wait a couple of weeks, to make sure any protozoa have died off, and I would definitely run a carbon filter for a couple of weeks.

 

[214jay]

Great thanks for the quick reply.  Will the carbon filter remove all of the medication? Its pretty awful stuff so I do not want it in the tank longer than it has to be.

 

[snazy]

Great thanks for the quick reply.  Will the carbon filter remove all of the medication? Its pretty awful stuff so I do not want it in the tank longer than it has to be
 

 
Not really. You should do a few good water changes afterwards as well. And wait with the inverts as long as you can, 2 weeks minimum as lock man said but 3-4 weeks isn't a bad idea.

 

[214jay]

Thanks for the advice, I have no problem with waiting 3-4 weeks to keep them healthy.  My other concern is that I am only just over half stocked (because I have lost quite a few fish) and I do not want to lose bacteria in the filter.

 

[snazy]

With the medication in the tank you may have knocked quite a few bacs already anyway. Keep an eye on the water quality. Don't rush into anything as it's really not a good idea to introduce fish at least 3-4 weeks after an ich outbreak. The fish need to be given time to recover completely which may take even longer.  Medication normally doesn't just kills some parasites, but reduces them to an amount at which the fish's immune system can handle those nasties and outbattle them. Surviving fish are often immune to new outbreaks but a newly introduced and stressed fish(from being shipped, transferred, adjusting to new water stats, new tank mates, etc..) will have compromised immune system and can get subjected to some remaining parasites and re-infest your tank.  Also, if the new fish is actually naturally carrying some pathogens to which that fish is actually immune, your own fish may not be and being in a weak state after fighting ich they can get a secondary disease which can certainly kill them.
 
So point is, in a couple of months if all is ok and everyone is healthy, just slowly introduce new fish. Don't ever double your current bioload at once. The tank will be also more mature then and it all depends on that how fast it can handle more bioload. In some cases you may have a minor spike for a day, in some cases a major one for a week, in some no spike at all.
But generally, you can think about quarantining new fish too first....

 

[214jay]

That makes sense, thanks for the advice, there is certainly a lot to think about.  I now have a QT so I will be sure to quarantine new fish for a few weeks before introducing. I will keep an eye out for spikes also, I have some spare filter media in another maturing tank which I could transfer if needed.