How long to wait to add fish after ich?

I tried looking up fallow period for a freshwater tank with ich, but found nothing (in saltwater it’s 76 days with no fish so that it, freeswimmer and eggs die) freshwater ich is different though, I still have 6 cardinals and oto’s that seems to be able to survive it, this is the second round, I’m in Canada so not much meds here, so the question Is (if my fish die) how long will I have to let my tank sit without any fish in it before the tank becomes ich free, or will It never be?
Thanks!

 

Have you done anything to treat the ich. Even raising the temperature to 82 degrees F (28 degrees C) will help. You should be able to add 1 Tablespoon per gallon of aquarium salt without affecting your otos, more than that might stress them. When doing water changes, add salt to the water in proportion to the amount of water changed. After a few weeks of the salt treatment, go back to water changes without salt to gradually diminish the salt content in the tank.

Some other fishkeepers from Canada might be able to give you advice on obtaining fish meds, specifically those for ich.

Treating the ich is only one part of the solution. You also need to figure out what caused the outbreak of ich in the first place and make sure that situation is corrected.

Did you introduce new fish without quarantining them?
Do you test your water quality periodically?
Is your pH stable?
Is your tank fully cycled and are the ammonia and nitrite levels at zero?
Do you have a heater in the tank and is it maintaining the temperature at a constant level (no more variation than +/- 1 degree C).
Do you do the required periodic water changes using dechlorinated water?

If the conditions that triggered the ich outbreak are not corrected, it is likely to return. The parasites that cause ich are often lurking in the aquarium, but the fish only become infected when aquarium conditions cause them to be stressed and their immune systems are compromised.

 

Personally I wouldn’t treat ich with meds. Raising the temp to 86°F will stop the ich from reproducing and after 3 weeks all the ich should be gone. Adding in an air stone and aquarium salt will also help.

 

Yeah I tried raising temp to 88 for 2 weeks with an extra air stone, and lowered water level to get better gas exchange with a waterfall effect from
The filter, but didn’t work and lost half the fish, and many plants suffered and got bad algae out of it, which is now cleaned up...

the tank is cycled, it was setup in January, parameters are all in line, regular maintenance...
ich was introduceD with a German black ram a few months back, I should have never added him, All my other stock was there from the beginning, I guess there was a bit of fighting, and ich broke out...
I don’t want to add salt because I also have expensive plants, and the tank is heavily planted... the ich seemed to have gone after the two weeks of 88f but now my cardinals are covered, my oto’s show no signs... the only stick left after that are a ton of assassin snails that bred!
I want to restock the tank, but obviously not with ich in it so present, so if the cardinals eventually die, and thats if they die, because they have been surviving it so far with only signs of white spots and no other infections.
But if they die how long do I need to wait for the freeswimmer and the eggs and the hatching of the eggs to die off without any fish in the tank?

 

I would wait two weeks, maybe three if you want to be super careful.

 

Yeah I tried raising temp to 88 for 2 weeks with an extra air stone, and lowered water level to get better gas exchange with a waterfall effect from
The filter, but didn’t work and lost half the fish, and many plants suffered and got bad algae out of it, which is now cleaned up...

the tank is cycled, it was setup in January, parameters are all in line, regular maintenance...
ich was introduceD with a German black ram a few months back, I should have never added him, All my other stock was there from the beginning, I guess there was a bit of fighting, and ich broke out...
I don’t want to add salt because I also have expensive plants, and the tank is heavily planted... the ich seemed to have gone after the two weeks of 88f but now my cardinals are covered, my oto’s show no signs... the only stick left after that are a ton of assassin snails that bred!
I want to restock the tank, but obviously not with ich in it so present, so if the cardinals eventually die, and thats if they die, because they have been surviving it so far with only signs of white spots and no other infections.
But if they die how long do I need to wait for the freeswimmer and the eggs and the hatching of the eggs to die off without any fish in the tank?

A temperature of 88 degrees is pretty warm for most fish. The amount of dissolved oxygen in the water drops as the temperature increases. Some of your fish that died might have suffocated.

If you can move all your fish to another tank (properly cycled of course) and do a complete water change on the main tank, that should get rid of all the ich other than what might be left in the substrate. If you leave the tank empty for a few weeks, except for the plants and snails, the parasites will not have the fish hosts they need to complete their life cycle and should die out. With the fish separated from your plants and snails, hopefully you can find one of the medications that will knock out the ich. I understand that using powerful medications should not be your first choice of treatment, but since your previous efforts have failed to resolve the situation, it is time for more drastic measures. Medications containing malichite green can be used with most fish, including otos, but are problematic with scaleless fish like corydoras.

 

Thanks! Been trying for a while to find some meds but it’s hard, will keep trying though!

 

Ich x should be safe for sensitive fish/scaleless fish.catfish...

Last month I got 9 rainbow fish for my 55 gallon, a few days later, my 2 blue acara and a tetra had ich. so weird, the new fish did not have ich, none of them or any of my other fish ever got the spots. Its been 10 years since I had fish with ich, and this was not how I ever experianced or expected.
Anyways, I raised the temp to 86, and started to panic. The youtube guy I follow said that Ich x was safe for loaches. I had my husband drive me to the store an hour away to get it. I tried it, it worked in about 4 days. My loaches and pleco were not harmed. All my fish are doing well!

 

It’s banned in Canada though, most fish meds are.

 

PetSmart has an ich medication that works. It doesn’t have listed malachite green, but it is the same colour. Might be RidIch? I can’t remember. But it is available in BC so you should be able to get it too.

 

Thanks! Been trying for a while to find some meds but it’s hard, will keep trying though!

If you just increase the temp to 86° and vacuum the gravel and surfaces on a daily base. The temperature speeds up the lifecycle of ich, and vacuum the ich offspring looming in the substrate, this will reduce the ich very fast.
And for the next time before adding a fish, I am a strong believer in quarantine as I went through the same experience as you do right now.

 

If you just increase the temp to 86° and vacuum the gravel and surfaces on a daily base. The temperature speeds up the lifecycle of ich, and vacuum the ich offspring looming in the substrate, this will reduce the ich very fast.
And for the next time before adding a fish, I am a strong believer in quarantine as I went through the same experience as you do right now.

I Agree about the quarantine. Also make sure to quarantine the plants. I introduced some nasty camallanus worms (that have now spread and I need to treat not just one tank but four) because I didn’t quarantine some plants.

 

PetSmart has an ich medication that works. It doesn’t have listed malachite green, but it is the same colour. Might be RidIch? I can’t remember. But it is available in BC so you should be able to get it too.

Oh really??? I’ll go check it out, that would be sweet!

Yeah I tried the high temps and vacuum but as long as there are fish in the tank it just doesn’t seem to be doing the job!
Hopefully Pet smart will deliver with the goods with this ich med, i will give it a go!

I QT, right now my QT tank is being used for my new saltwater fish and will be for the next few months...
the black ram was QT’ed for observation but I don’t think he bought in the ich, the ich must have already been present in the tank but it was never seen or had cause to be outbreak, I guess the addition of a new tank mate caused all the stress and ich broke out, I might try and acclimation box next time I’m adding a fish to an already established community...
It’s just weird to find no info on fallow period of a tank though, let’s say I was to pull out my fish and treat them in a separate qt, there’s no written info as far as I could find telling how long to let the tank sit

 

It’s banned in Canada though, most fish meds are.

Really? why? is it bad for humans who might eat the treated fish or somthing?

 

Yes since 2019, mostly ingredients listed as chemicals they don’t really want the average person to have but I’m sure there’s a lot more to it. some meds you can get but with a vet prescription, but a $250 consult with a vet for a $2 - $5 fish Doesn’t add up!
It’s so messed up