Lifecycle of Ich?

H

Hunter2001

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Jan 24, 2003
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I am fairly new at keeping fish, and unfortunately I lost almost my entire population to Ich (6 Tiger Barbs, 3 Silver Dollars). The only fish remaining is my pleco, I don't think anything will kill it.

When I realized my tank had Ich (29 Gallon), I tried to treat it, raised the temperature, treated the water with Ich Guard, but I think it was too late.

My question is what do I do now? How long is the Ich lifecycle? How do you know when its safe to add new fish.

Thanks you for your comments.
 
Your pleco may not show the characteristic white spots, but he may still have the parasite on his gills.
I would remove the pleco from the aquarium to a quarantine tank, and continue to treat for Ich per the instructions on your medication.
Meanwhile, the parasites in the empty tank will die without a host fish.
At an elevated temperature, this process might take a week or more.
It is said that heat alone, above 90 degrees, can kill ich. If your heater is up to the task, I might leave the temp at that level for a day or two as well.

Ich is best to avoid. I follow these rules:

#1) Do not buy fish from store with a central filtration system for all their tanks.
#2) Carefully inspect all the fish in a tank before puchasing from that tank.
#3) Quarantine new fish for 2-3 weeks before adding them to an established aquarium.

The only outbreak of Ich I have had in the past 15 years was by violating rule #1. I avoid the "big box" pet outlets that are fond of this filtration method.

Good luck to you.

Bill in WI
 
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