Vacuuming sand bed with ich !!!???

[ReeferTang44]

If I want to do a water change and I have ich in my tank should I vacuum the sand?
How often should I be doing water changes with ich ?

 

[Peace River]

#fishmedic

 

[vetteguy53081]

If I want to do a water change and I have ich in my tank should I vacuum the sand?
How often should I be doing water changes with ich ?

If you have ich in your tank, you should have fish in quarantine under treatment such as coppersafe.
If this is a fowler tank (fish only) you can treat in tank however rock will absorb some of the treatment- Other option to treatment is hyposalinity (salt level 1.009)
Regarding your question, vacuuming sand will remove cysts and tromonts but I would Only vacuum when ammonia levels become elevated especially if using treatment as water changes will reduce level of medication.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

If I want to do a water change and I have ich in my tank should I vacuum the sand?
How often should I be doing water changes with ich ?

Vacuuming the sand every night is one facet of a technique known as "ich management". It siphons off some of the resting ich stage called tomonts. Then, those tomonts are not present the next morning to release their infective theronts/tomites. With mild cases of ich, in an established reef tank, it is sometimes possible to control the disease without moving the fish out for treatment. Be forewarned though, that it doesn't always work!

Here is some text about that:

“Ich Management” Because many aquarists mix fish and invertebrates, they are ill-prepared to then treat for marine ich, as the two best treatments, amine-based copper or hyposalinity, cannot be used with invertebrates. A popular technique has then arisen, “ich management”. It is popular not because it works well, but because it is an easier alternative. Be forewarned, it often fails if applied during moderate infections. The reason that it exists as a technique at all is because people find themselves in situations like this and are desperate to try anything.

The basic idea is to reduce the infective propagules (tomites) of the ich parasite to the point where the fish's acquired immunity can fight the infection off. This is done through a series of techniques for stress reduction and tomite limiting. Unfortunately, the ich tomites themselves cause stress to the fish, so if the fish have more than 30 or so trophonts on them, the method often fails.

1) Install a powerful UV sterilizer on the aquarium.
2) Ensure that the fish's diet and water quality are the best you can make them.
3) Keep the water temperature close to 78 degrees F.
4) Siphon off the tank floor nightly to remove as many tomonts as possible.
5) Employ strong filtration to trap as many tomites as possible.
6) Try a proprietary "reef safe" marine ich medication. These rarely cure ich infections on their own, but some may have benefit when combined with other management methods. Avoid the herbal remedies, focus on those that contain peroxide salts.


Jay