How long after ICH to add new fish?

[crudnugget]

To make a long story short, I had just cycled and set up a new planted aquarium (29g) and added a few Bloodfin Tetras, Rummy Nose Tetras and a Bristlenose Pleco. The tank had been doing just fine for a bit.

My mom never noticed the BN Pleco, so she went out to PetCo and got a Candy Stripe Pleco for the tank because, "You need one of those glass sucker fish."

I was hesitant to add the fish because it came from PetCo, but I liked the look of it and I didn't want to make mom mad, so I acclimated it and put him in (no quarantine - noob mistake! )

After that, a few of my fish got what looked like sand grains all over them, so I looked it up and saw that it was Ich. I have been treating the tank with Kordon Rid-Ich+ since I read it was good for Tetras.

Today, about 85% of the Ich was gone from the fish, so I'd say I probably have 4-5 days left for treatment (including 3 days after all visible signs are gone). How long after that should I wait to add some more fish? I do plan on getting a 10g for a QT tank, so if I do that tomorrow will my main tank be safe after a couple weeks of my fish being in QT?

 

[OldMan47]

You need to continue treatment after all signs of disease are gone. It should say on your medication but otherwise I would say at least 5 days. That is not 5 total but 5 after you find no signs at all of the disease on your fish. After that time, new fish should be safe with the fish you already have. The question at that point is do you want to take a chance of putting a new fish into the tank that has not been quarantined. If not, I would QT the new fish for at least 2 weeks. Many people here will tell you a month because ich is not nearly the worst thing that could happen. There are some diseases that you might not notice if you have them in QT less than a month. Again the 2 weeks to a month is how long after you saw the last sign of any disease.

 

[crudnugget]

Thanks for the reply. In my original post I stated that "I'd say I probably have 4-5 days left for treatment (including 3 days after all visible signs are gone)". The back of the Kordon Rid-Ich+ says 3 days after all visible signs are gone, and I'm guessing the rest of the visible signs will be gone in the next day or two since most of it was gone today.

You say that new fish can be added immediately after the treatment is done. Thanks, that information is not really in any of the guides on treating ich (including the Freshwater ICH Treatment article on this site).

 

[BoredAgain]

I would wait 7+ days after all visible signs are gone (as stated for the salt treatment)...but that's just me. Add some carbon to your filter to get rid of whatever meds are left first.

But really, you shouldn't need to worry about how soon you can add fish to that tank if you are quarantining new stock.