Using extreme heat/salinity to kill ich

[nibkia]

I was wondering if its possible to raise the temp/salinity to kill ich in a tank to forgo the 72 day fallow and if so at what temp/salinity does ich start to die and how long would you have to keep it there

 

[MnFish1]

If anyone would know its @Jay Hemdal But here is a quote: "Temperatures for optimal growth of most strains of Cryptocaryon appear to be about 23–30°C (73.4–86°F) (Dickerson 2006; Yoshinaga 2001), although active infections at 15°C (59°F) have been documented (Diggles and Lester 1996)."

Having said that - it seems to still be a crap-shoot. In that You just never know which strains you have in your tank.

As to salinity hypo salinity is probably more useful - "Prolonged exposure to 15–16 g/L salinity or less (Cheung et al. 1979; Colorni 1985) appeared to affect some life stages. Tomonts of one strain of Cryptocaryon were effectively killed after 48 hours of exposure to 15 g/L or less (Colorni 1985)."

 

[Doctorgori]

no good answer here but off the cuff, oxygen is gonna be a issue at some point above 84F I’d imagine

 

[polyppal]

Hypo will kill it if done properly and is safe on fishstock. Going high heat sounds like a death sentence for everything in the system

 

[MnFish1]

I was wondering if its possible to raise the temp/salinity to kill ich in a tank to forgo the 72 day fallow and if so at what temp/salinity does ich start to die and how long would you have to keep it there

I guess I was trying to say - yes - you can choose parameters - that will kill CI - in a system. But - it will also kill everything else. So - perhaps if concerned - just bleach everything. (note I dont know what you're trying to save) But - In fact in the reef the temps are often far higher than our tanks. So its an excellent question

 

[nibkia]

I guess I was trying to say - yes - you can choose parameters - that will kill CI - in a system. But - it will also kill everything else. So - perhaps if concerned - just bleach everything. (note I dont know what you're trying to save) But - In fact in the reef the temps are often far higher than our tanks. So its an excellent question

the only thing in the tank is rock and sand I have taken all the fish out and moved the coral to another tank I am just trying skip the fallow period by killing the ich with something directly

 

[MnFish1]

the only thing in the tank is rock and sand I have taken all the fish out and moved the coral to another tank I am just trying skip the fallow period by killing the ich with something directly

If you have moved it - ,my opinion would be no

 

[Tamberav]

I run my QT tank at 90 degrees for two weeks at times to speed up processes but I can't tell you if that is really enough or not. It doesn't seem to have any negative impact on the biological filtration though.

 

[nibkia]

do you think heating the tank upwards of 150f + would kill the ich or is there not enough evidence to come to a conclusion that it would kill it

 

[MnFish1]

150f is extremely hot. IMHO it would kill everything except the rare archaea

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

do you think heating the tank upwards of 150f + would kill the ich or is there not enough evidence to come to a conclusion that it would kill it

I would worry about damaging items in the tank at 150 degrees - silicone seams, etc.

Before going to that extreme, dose with 500 ppm bleach for 24 hours. You can easily remove that with a full water change and dechlorinator for any residual. You need to find bleach that does NOT have perfumes, surfactants, etc. in it. That can be difficult.

Jay