Started my first full qt, will be staring copper treatment next day or so. I’ve read a lot about ich. Learned that corals and inverts can carry in ich, so they should be qt for 76 days. Was wondering if inverts and coral can introduce ich, couldn’t live rock and live sand do the same?
Can ich be brought in on live sand or rock?
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peopleschoice
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Definitely, in my opinion sand and rock absolutely carries the parasite
Big G
captain dunsel
When the ich parasites (trophonts) drop off the host fish the and encyst (tomonts) on the substrates: rock, sand, hard shells of snails, shrimp for 3-28 days usually. Then the free swimming theronts will spend 1-2 days hunting for a new fish host to start the cycle all over again. But some have been known to take up to 72 days for this same cycle. Thus the 76 days to insure ich free tank for your fish. So some folks will put in their live rock, or live sand, and start their tanks with a 76 day fallow period to make sure it is ich free. I do.
melypr1985
totally addicted
+1 to what Big G said. I do want to add that a large portion of people who start new tanks use dry rock and new sand out of bags. Live rock is often bought out of vats that have ONLY rock in them so there's no danger there unless they also take in rock from other people's tanks. If the rock and sand came out of another tank that is running then definitely let the tank cycle and be fallow for a full 76 days.
high detail macro photos exist at reefcentral in the chem forum/DNA dinoflagellates thread (I bet its kicked up to this day, huge work) and it shows dino cells stuck to the slime matrix of common reef fish moved among tanks. so neat. an example of vectoring from sticky mucous layers.
that they don't have shells might expose more sticky slime sides where hitchhikers of all kinds ride. I believe when it comes to ich medical aseptic technique prevents spread and that includes all water and substrata living or not.
that they don't have shells might expose more sticky slime sides where hitchhikers of all kinds ride. I believe when it comes to ich medical aseptic technique prevents spread and that includes all water and substrata living or not.
josh515025
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So if I leave my display tank fishless only inverts corals sand and rock for 76 days all parasites/diseases will be gone from display tank?
ThRoewer
Valuable Member
Short answer: No.
There are obligate and opportunistic parasites.
Obligate parasites need a fish as a host for survival and reproduction. Those are the ones you can eradicate with keeping the tank fishless for a certain amount of time.
Opportunistic parasites usually live of other things and just feed on fish when the opportunity arises. These parasites can live and reproduce just fine without fish in the tank. So once you have one of those in your system, the only way to rid it of them is to sterilize everything. Uronema is such a parasite.
Cryptocaryon is an obligate parasite, though I would be careful with the 76 days. Generally, 30 days do the trick but if you want to be on the safe side I would suggest going 3 full months.
But there are some conditions under which Cryptocaryon cysts can stay dormant for even longer:
Temperatures below 19 °C put it in hibernation and once the temperature rises again it will finish development and hatch. Similar happens if the cyst gets into an anaerobic zone.
If someone has a tank that just got over something wicked, but wanted to move live rock and corals into another tank, could you just wash the rock off with vinegar and let it dry in the sun for a few days?
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