How long does ich last in a tank after all fish die

[reefcat07]

How long does ich last in a reef tank after all fish die?

I had 11 fish and they all died over the weekend.

What should I do moving forward?

 

[Qasimja]

if all your fish died in that short period of time it likely wasnt ich it was most likely marine velvet or brooklynella do you have pictures of the fish? were they swimming into the power heads also were they like REALLY covered in ich like spots? where they hiding from the light and not eating? also how long has your tank been setup?

 

[brandon429]

the current going theory is that most of the host dependent diseases fallow out in 80 days/then you only add back in quarantined or prepped fish

some of the fail rate in that approach is sandbeds hiding them out, places where organic waste is insulating them in special ways. from humblefish threads...might need a sandbed swap near the end, that's not hard to do if the tank isn't huge and we can easily still skip the recycle.

 

[reefcat07]

if all your fish died in that short period of time it likely wasnt ich it was most likely marine velvet or brooklynella do you have pictures of the fish? were they swimming into the power heads also were they like REALLY covered in ich like spots? where they hiding from the light and not eating? also how long has your tank been setup?

if all your fish died in that short period of time it likely wasnt ich it was most likely marine velvet or brooklynella do you have pictures of the fish? were they swimming into the power heads also were they like REALLY covered in ich like spots? where they hiding from the light and not eating? also how long has your tank been setup?

if all your fish died in that short period of time it likely wasnt ich it was most likely marine velvet or brooklynella do you have pictures of the fish? were they swimming into the power heads also were they like REALLY covered in ich like spots? where they hiding from the light and not eating? also how long has your tank been setup?

Yes I think your correct. Swimming against powerheads and hiding. Had 11 fish when I bought tank from an individual that had the tank up for over a year. I have had the tank for two months. I bought 2 horseshoe crabs and a coral and then the nightmare.

Any idea of what I can do now at this point?

 

[reefcat07]

I bought two horseshoe crabs and a new coral and then the nightmare.

I bought my tank about 2 months ago from an experienced reefer. He had the tank setup for over a year.

Only fish when I bought the 90 gallon tank

 

[Ksull72487]

Ich is technically forever. It will die off. But it’s usually always in that sand bed at some point or another. If 11 fish died in two days it defintely wasn’t Ich unless they looked like you poured salt on them.

Ich you kinda just wind up dealing with. Keep them happy. Fish can actually avoid it on their own.

I agree with the responses your getting.

 

[reefcat07]

Ich is technically forever. It will die off. But it’s usually always in that sand bed at some point or another. If 11 fish died in two days it defintely wasn’t Ich unless they looked like you poured salt on them.

Ich you kinda just wind up dealing with. Keep them happy. Fish can actually avoid it on their own.

I agree with the responses your getting.

Thank you for commenting...

So you dont think it was ich?

What should I do at this point?

 

[Ksull72487]

Thank you for commenting...

So you dont think it was ich?

What should I do at this point?

Start checking everything? Water Parameters, temp etc? Unless they were covered in white specs two days is awfully fast for Ich to kill. I have treated fish with Ich for years. Petcos biggest problem. Lol their answer was Clout. But FDA didn’t like the ingredients so it’s no longer available. Ich isn’t a quick killer usually. And it’s usually very visible. Like the other guy said Brooknyella etc generally is. Id triple check everything on your tank. Temp, stray voltage. Check all your boxes.

Were your fish covered in white specks? Not doing well for awhile?

Defintely need more info. But to start. Double and Triple check everything.

 

[reefcat07]

Start checking everything? Water Parameters, temp etc? Unless they were covered in white specs two days is awfully fast for Ich to kill. I have treated fish with Ich for years. Petcos biggest problem. Lol their answer was Clout. But FDA didn’t like the ingredients so it’s no longer available. Ich isn’t a quick killer usually. And it’s usually very visible. Like the other guy said Brooknyella etc generally is. Id triple check everything on your tank. Temp, stray voltage. Check all your boxes.

Were your fish covered in white specks? Not doing well for awhile?

Defintely need more info. But to start. Double and Triple check everything.

Thanks again. I was a reefer about 15 years ago but a lot has changed.

I bought an APEX controller and Trident so my levels are pretty good. My temp does vary 2 degrees every day. When the lights are on my temp is about 79-80 and when off it drops to 77.5-78.5

My salt was at 30 and I raised it to 32 as that's what my shop suggested.

Is this an issue?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks again. I was a reefer about 15 years ago but a lot has changed.

I bought an APEX controller and Trident so my levels are pretty good. My temp does vary 2 degrees every day. When the lights are on my temp is about 79-80 and when off it drops to 77.5-78.5

My salt was at 30 and I raised it to 32 as that's what my shop suggested.

Is this an issue?

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

The easiest diagnostic to determine fish disease from water quality issues is if you have corals in the tank. If all the fish die and the stony corals are doing well, it was a fish disease, guaranteed.

While ich won't kill fish in two days from the start of the symptoms, it can certainly kill all the fish in two days once the disease gets bad enough for fish loss to begin to occur. Amyloodinium, velvet kills faster, has smaller spots and tends to cause the fish to breath very rapidly.

Either way - you'll need to let the tank lay fallow with no new animals of any kind added. Around here, people use the time frame of 75 to 80 days. There was a paper written in 1997 that stated 72 days, but I can't find a copy of it to see how well it was written. Years ago, I always used 45 days and never had an issue.

Jay

 

[reefcat07]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

The easiest diagnostic to determine fish disease from water quality issues is if you have corals in the tank. If all the fish die and the stony corals are doing well, it was a fish disease, guaranteed.

While ich won't kill fish in two days from the start of the symptoms, it can certainly kill all the fish in two days once the disease gets bad enough for fish loss to begin to occur. Amyloodinium, velvet kills faster, has smaller spots and tends to cause the fish to breath very rapidly.

Either way - you'll need to let the tank lay fallow with no new animals of any kind added. Around here, people use the time frame of 75 to 80 days. There was a paper written in 1997 that stated 72 days, but I can't find a copy of it to see how well it was written. Years ago, I always used 45 days and never had an issue.

Jay

Thanks Jay. My fish did breathe rapidly so your probably correct. My corals are doing well at least.

All I have is soft corals like some xenia, mushrooms, torch, hammers.

Regardless of what the issue was I should then just wait 45-60 days then?

 

[Ksull72487]

w

Thanks again. I was a reefer about 15 years ago but a lot has changed.

I bought an APEX controller and Trident so my levels are pretty good. My temp does vary 2 degrees every day. When the lights are on my temp is about 79-80 and when off it drops to 77.5-78.5

My salt was at 30 and I raised it to 32 as that's what my shop suggested.

Is this an issue?

Non of that is enough to kill 11 fish in 2 days let alone stress them much if at all.

 

[Ksull72487]

I’d go with Jay on this one. He pointed it out. Corals still good. Go dormant for awhile.

 

[Pistol Peet]

And give it 3 months minimum

 

[TheShrimpNibbler]

Thanks Jay. My fish did breathe rapidly so your probably correct. My corals are doing well at least.

All I have is soft corals like some xenia, mushrooms, torch, hammers.

Regardless of what the issue was I should then just wait 45-60 days then?

I tend to lean on the safe side and go fallow for 76 days as I have heard that there is evidence that ich can last for that long. I don’t know if it really can or not, but I personally don’t take chances. Even though your description doesn’t really sound like ich, I don’t think it’s worth it to take a chance over a couple more weeks of going fallow.
Although this is sort of a side note, make sure that your corals have plenty of nutrients while you don’t have fish in there.

 

[reefcat07]

I’d go with Jay on this one. He pointed it out. Corals still good. Go dormant for awhile.

Ok thanks. Thats what I will do.

 

[reefcat07]

I tend to lean on the safe side and go fallow for 76 days as I have heard that there is evidence that ich can last for that long. I don’t know if it really can or not, but I personally don’t take chances. Even though your description doesn’t really sound like ich, I don’t think it’s worth it to take a chance over a couple more weeks of going fallow.
Although this is sort of a side note, make sure that your corals have plenty of nutrients while you don’t have fish in there.

Thanks for the comment. Will do the fallow route for 76 days to be safe.