Mikesilverado8888 Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 So I took all the fish out of my tank Saturday planning on getting a UV sanitizer today Will that help speed up the killing of ick? If so when can I start putting fish back in if not how long should I wait to put fish in the tank? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 Anecdotally, some people have had success with running UV either continuously or after they have a confirmed outbreak. I don't think I've ever seen an actual study trying to confirm it though but there seems to be enough examples that it has some merit. If your fish are out of the tank, I'd just save the money and skip the UV unless it starts coming back. 6 weeks for marine ich. There's some people, myself included, that think that many pathogens can remain in a tank or even remain infecting fish but they don't display any symptoms until they are stressed and the pathogen has the opportunity to spread. I've had fish get ich without a single addition to the tank in a year or so. I can't think of any other way that they could possibly get sick other than the parasite being present in the host, but not displaying any symptoms. Powder brown tangs and some others are notorious for getting ich and other diseases arbitrarily. Definitely wouldn't hurt to run UV if you have very sensitive species. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 I had a Powder Blue Tang for 2 years that would get Ich every three months or so. After a day or two it would go away. Healthy fish don't die from Ich. Here's the problem with Ich. Let's say you take out all of the fish and wait 6 weeks for the Ich that is in the tank to die. Then you buy new fish, QT them with Rid Ich and put them in the tank. You're birth control certain that you do not have Ich. How do you keep it that way? Any random drop of water from another tank can reintroduce it. Any frag of coral, new fish or invertebrate can have the parasite on it. I believe Ty did a UV experiment with Ich if you want to search for his thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Search my posts on using UV sterilizers, I'm definitely in the camp they can be used to erradicate ich from a tank. If you have fish out I wouldn't bother though and fyi the cysts can remain viable for up to 11 weeks not 6. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 I agree with Tim and yes, I've run across similar literature supporting the 11 weeks timeframe as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sethsolomon Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 IMO the amount of UV you need to kill waterborne ick will do more harm than good. My treatment consists of keeping the fish fat, happy, and stress free. My thoughts are that ick is always present in a reef. Even if you QT everything, there will still be ick in the system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nvrEnuf Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 +1 on the general senitment in this thread, I know a few authors say " I haven't had an ich outbreak in 20 years, QT WORKS!" But- they can't provide any science that PROVES there are no carriers in the tank; only that there have been no visable signs. That's not to say I don't QT, and dont think going fallow is appropriate for an outbreak, I do. As for UV : the best way of saying it that I've come across is in the BRS video : UV probably won't "cure" an outbreak...really, only hypo salinty or fallow do that; but, it certainly isn't a bad idea for keeping Ich in check before an outbreak occurs" This does not translate to "throw a UV filter on and forget about worrying about Ich"!! UV filters are a tool in controlling ich just like proper feeding, population, and stress control is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 Well said! I compare it to what a skimmer does for nutrients... UV is never going to strip everything from your tank for the most part but does of good job of keeping populations low so there is less of a chance for an ich infestation. I suscribe to the theory ich is always in our tanks... keeping fish healthy and happy typically avoids the infestation and to me, running UV keeps the populations lower so that they can't ever get to the level in the tank to be devastating to your fish population. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikesilverado8888 Posted May 10, 2015 Author Share Posted May 10, 2015 Ok but is it worth buying a uv filter cheapest one is like $65 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 That decision is up to you Mike. I feel like it's worth it but some may disagree. The cheap ones aren't the best too so I don't know if that muddies the situation. Do some research on UV sterilizers and you'll see which ones are the good ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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