how long to wait

[tineng]

the last of my fish has just died because of ich.... had ich quite often before when the tank was new but never had any casuatly..dunno why this time so serious all fishes died....

anyway, temporary lose heart in keeping fishes but will definately come back to them some other time....anyway, any bro care to share their experience on how long they have kept their tank fishless until the ich died down????

[AlfaRomeo]

Bro, you should keep the tank fishless for at least 2 months (8 weeks) as recommended by the large majority of 'senior' reefers

[wts684]

There is no chance for the tank to get rid of ICH. As long as your fishes under stress, immediate infected with ich.

[tineng]

i'm ok with keeping my tank fishless for months as long as it gets rid of ich...will also start strict QT proccedure and keep new fishes out for 6 weeks....but will all these help????

mine are usually the cheap fishes...<S$20....but it still hurts when they die on me....

[kschew1498]

Hi Tineng.....I share your sadness......

You probable seen my misfortune as well.....from 6 tangs to 2 .......still mourning for them. I too totally lose confidence.

I didnt have your kind of patience to see my empty tank.......went into gobies.... ...small small fishes......all are doing well except one stupid 6 line wrrase that went to near the overflow and got suck into the sump.

If you can endure.....leave the tank empty as what Alfa has recommended.

Stay cool.....

[AhLoon]

Hi guys,

I can feel your pain and anguish, for I'd been a victim of ICK myself. I did quite a fair bit of research (on the internet) after the painful experience.

The first time I fought ick I lost, my YT and regal blue learnt backstroke .... After 2 months I got a new regal blue and battled ick for 1 entire month before the ick subsided. It was another 1 month aftermath before I started stocking tangs again.

Just like to share how I did it. Assume that all water parameters are correct; I totally agree with AlfaRomeo. Stop stocking for 2 months will definitely see to the end of ick.

Besides, I personally find it particularly useful to shorten the life cycle of ick by raising the water temperature to room temperature (i.e. 32 degree celsius... may not work for all since corals are in the equation as well). In addition, during these period, try not to rescape your tank or do anything to stress your LS.

As usual, garlic do wonders for raising fishes immunity towards ick and the rest depends on fate. (assuming no UV filter being used). Garlic guard, formula 2 flakes quite useful.

Good luck.

[RAV-65]

I agree with Alfa Romeo, keep tank empty for 8 weeks, dat would allow the entire life cycle of ick to die off, den slowly introduce fish again... I didn't keep my tank empty for 8 weeks, but adopted a very strict approach to lessen the stress on fishes... fed garlic everyday, and had my ozonizer on 24 hours, now pretty ich-free... even my Hippo Tang recovered... keeping my fingers crossed...