Question about Ich

G

Gargoyle12

Bought a coral from a tank know to have marine Ich. I know the coral can not have Ich but can it carry the parrasite over to my tank?
 
Gargoyle12,

It is possible... as one stage of the ich cycle falls off of the fish and attaches to the bottom, rock, etc awaiting the (normal night time) hatching of the next stage again. What percentage is attached and awaiting to hatch from the coral is most likely unknown. The heavier the ich infestation in the original tank, the greater the chance that they might hatch again and find a new host. I've always tried to leave rock,coral,etc that has been exposed to ich out of another tank for at least 3 weeks. Even longer would be better, but I guess it depends on your tolerance for risk. :?
JMO

Doug
 
Thanks guys, I brought it in and put it in a qt tank just in case. Last thing I want is to deal with an outbreak of ich. Guess it will be staying there for a while
 
Here's a good reference on the life cycle of ich, and some of the treatments..

http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/marineich.html

Coral from an infected tank could have ich in the water or on the substrate (three of the four life cycle stages).

To be absolutely safe, you need to treat it like an infected tank. QT for six weeks.

Unfortuntely, it's easier to treat an infected fish than it is an infected tank (or corals and LR from an infected tank). In that case, you can break the life cycle of ich in only one life cycle stage, via the transfer method.

http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/3daytransfer.html
 
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