How long do I have to wait

[aquamanis]

Hi all, I have finished treating for whitespot (ichthyophthiriasis, try saying that three times quick). The last treatment was 2 weeks ago and everything seems fine. All fish are happy and the white spots have all dissapeared. I would like to know do I have to put activated carbon in to remove the treatment or will it dissipate by itself? How long till I can put some more fish in. Water readings are 0,0,0 everything although I do have some calcium buildup on the driftwood which I believe is a sign of lack of CO2. (Heaps of plants) I have done 20% water changes weekly.

 

[platypus]

I am not an expert BUT it sounds like you've been doing things right so far - if you have done regular weekly changes and your water params are all OK then it should have cleared up by now.

I have a carbon sponge that I take out when treating for ich and put back in one week after the final treatment, but I have read posts on here that say that these disposable carbon sponges don't do all that much anyway.

Good luck with the new fish if you decide it's OK to go ahead! I am going to invest in a quarantine tank for newbies - I had an ich outbreak in my tank last week after adding some new platies without quarantining .

 

[mrV]

I would like to know do I have to put activated carbon in to remove the treatment or will it dissipate by itself

Yes, you should filter couple days using carbon. Leaving medicine in water only irritates fishes and makes parasites/bacteria more resistant to those chemicals.

Don't leave carbon in filter either, because it doesn't last long. Carbon starts to release those harmful compounds back to water after some time. And you can't use "already used" carbon again.

How long till I can put some more fish in

Long enough. Month sounds good, couple months better. If you water temp. is like 24 C / 75 F it takes couple weeks ich to develop into state of parasite.