How long can Ich live?

Pinkie Pie

Pinkie Pie

Registered Member
Apr 25, 2013
4
0
0
31
Hi everyone!
I was hoping if someone can tell me how long Ich can live. I currently have a spacious aquarium that's been running for years that use to have Ich almost a year ago. It use to be a goldfish tank, but the goldfish moved out a long time ago. Currently, I turned it into a planted aquarium that flourishes with different species of Anubias + some random guppies and Otos. None of the current residents have showed any signs of Ich (Ever) for a dozen months, but I'm just being paranoid. Paranoid that even if Ich can't penetrate any of the fish because they are too healthy, but yet can lie dormant and wait until the opportunity presents itself!

I want to add Clown Loaches to this 150 gallon, and I heard they are susceptible to Ich. Can a tank that had ich long time ago, STILL have it even if the parasite hasn't showed any visible signs? Is there a way to see if Ich's in your aquarium without waiting for it to happen?

I WAS thinking about adding Red Cherry Shrimp instead of Clown Loaches, but CLown loaches look like they can be super fun to watch and interact with!
 
I recently had a bout with ich in my aquarium for the first time. All of the research that I had done stated roughly 10 days without a host will kill the parasite, and that medication will kill it within hours when it is in it's free-floating form (not attached to a host). I allowed approximately 2 weeks for the tank to be cleared before returning my fish from an alternate tank. This was a bit over a month ago and I have had no signs of illness since. I am by no means an expert, fairly new to the hobby actually, but I hope this info helps ease your worries. Also, here is a link to a wiki page about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichthyophthirius_multifiliis
 
You're probably safe, but QT any fish before you add them to your tank.
 
Ich is always in your water. If it is gone and there are no signs on fish, then it is still there, and the only way to keep it from coming back is to keep your parameters stable and water changes are a must.
 
rufioman said:
Ich is always in your water. If it is gone and there are no signs on fish, then it is still there, and the only way to keep it from coming back is to keep your parameters stable and water changes are a must.
Click to expand...

ich is not always in the water. Once it goes through its life cycle if there are no hosts it will die. The "always" there myth is one of the biggest about ich.
 
If the tank didn't go fishless for two weeks, or wasn't properly medicated when the out break occurred odds are the parasite is still present. Eliminating a monogenetic parasite without proper medication while it's host species is present is extremely unlikely.
 
Thanks everyone for the help! I think it's safe to say that there's no Ich in my aquarium... It's been a very long time since I've seen Ich in that aquarium, way longer then 8 months. I never really added any fish to my 150 gallon until awhile ago, and those fish I DID add are baby guppies I breed myself (Which are grown up now).
 
Pinkie, like said, if your tank has been ich free for a year and you haven't put anything into your tank from another tank, you should be good to go.

Meds aren't always necessary to rid the fish of an outbreak anyway. You can crank the heat up to as high as the fish can tolerate to speed the life cycle of the parasite along.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom