How long does ICH Live out of water?

[Barday]

Hi all,

I was reading a couple of posts about ICH and found out that you can contaminate a tank by using the same equipment from a tank which has ich.

I really don't want to buy a new set of kit for the second tank, so I was wondering how long ICH lives out of water.

So far I have been washing the equipment with really hot tap water before I put it in the other tank I figured that if the free swiming spores die at 86f in the tank then they must die easily at 100+ when washing right?

 

[guppymonkey]

I usually have a net for each of my tanks or set up a bucket with ick guard in it. Ick will die when its in contact with the air but only if the net dries out.

 

[SnowyzMom]

Thankfully I have not had this problem yet. Might I ask, could one wash out all the equipment with something like Lysol cleaner, which is soooo germicidal and then rinse everything for about 3 weeks to get rid of the Lysol? Or would that just never work? Just wondering. Not planning on it. I figure somebody must know.

 

[Barday]

I've got seperate nets, it's just the gravel vav, buckets and other misc stuff i'm worried about

 

[mhoward1999]

I would never use Lysol beacuse of it's potential for leaving a residue. However, I use chlorine bleach to steralize my stuff. The key is to rinse and rinse and rinse, and when you think it's rinsed enough, rinse some more. You need to rinse until it doesn't smell bleachy anymore. HTH!

 

[Def]

Rinse well in tapwater. Remember all that Aquasafe and Strescoat you buy to dechlorinate water with? I just found a use for good old straight-from-the-tap wet stuff

 

[blue_ram]

I would never use Lysol beacuse of it's potential for leaving a residue. However, I use chlorine bleach to steralize my stuff. The key is to rinse and rinse and rinse, and when you think it's rinsed enough, rinse some more. You need to rinse until it doesn't smell bleachy anymore. HTH!

Bleach will pretty much kill everythings. There is an easier/cheaper way to clean with bleach. Do the following:

1) wipe down the interior surface with a sponge soaked with bleach
2) wait for 1/2 hour
3) wipe off the surface with a clean, wet sponge 2 or 3 times (rinse out the sponge between cleaning!)
4) rinse 2 or 3 times
5) add 3 times (4x if you're using a cheap/no-name brand) the normal amount of dechlorinator. Marineland's Bio-safe is excellent for this.

Def said the same thing, but from his post its not very clear, since its difficult to tell which post he's responding to, unless you already know that bleach is sodium hypochlorite.

BTW, don't use cellulose sponge to clean the aquarium with fish or plants. They have anti-bacteria/mold agent in them which could be toxic to fish. But, for wiping down bleach, it's ok.

 

[Barday]

Thanks All! Some good advice there!

 

[mhoward1999]

Great info! Thanks. I just wish you could know how much dechlorinator is necessary when you clean the gravel with bleach...