Ick!!

[Don Hendricks]

So my aquarium has ick and 1 by 1 my fish are dying off even with treatment. My question is if the fish all die off and I happen to have a dead fish on the sand bed behind the rocks that I can't get to can ick still live on that fish. I read once the fish dies the ick moves to another fish but if there's no fish in there it usually dies within a couple of days. Unless it can live on a dead fish??

 

[Hitman]

It can live for weeks without any livestock to host on. You will need to leave the tank livestock free for 76 days or greater. Corals and live rock will fine to leave in but nothing else.

 

[Don Hendricks]

How about if there is a dead fish I can't get to. Can it live off that?

 

[Mjrenz]

A dead fish will be decomposed and/or devoured by a cuc long before the fallow period of 76 days is up. Can you post some pics of your fish so we can see if you're actually dealing with ich and not another disease?

 

[Salty Lemon]

Ich needs a live host to live off of. No worries about the dead fish.

 

[Don Hendricks]

Someone said it can live in the sand is that true?

 

[BeejReef]

it's like a butterfly.. different stages to it's life. The "cocoon" stage can live in the sand, on the rocks, pretty much anywhere. The cocoon has to open up, then the butterfly comes out and starves to death within the 76 days you keep the tank without fish for it to feed on

 

[Mjrenz]

Someone said it can live in the sand is that true?

This will answer a lot of your questions
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ich-cryptocaryon-irritans.191226/
Ich can remain dormant in anaerobic areas of the tank like a deep sand bed