Quick ich question

[Steve]

I just got done battling a case of ich in my 29g quarantine/holding tank, it was a nasty one too. Right before I noticed the ich I took out a medium size piece of wood from the tank and sat it in a tub of water because I was planning on putting it in one of my 55g show tanks (glad I didn't just stick it right in the tank because I would have spread ich to my show tank). The wood has been sitting in the tub of water for a few days now and I tossed some salt in the tub as well. Just wondering how long till I'll be safe to put the wood in my show tank? Anyone know how long ich can live without a host?

[djlamonica]

ich die when it is dried out.  Dry th peice of wood out for a week or two.  It can transfer if kept wet. 

[atmagoulick]

Try this website:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichthyophthirius_multifiliis

I am also fighting ich in a 90 gallon.  I am having good results with this chemical:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007R5M5CC/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I was referred to that chemical from a fish shop on 5 and Middlebelt.  I forgot the name of it.  Ich is nasty!

[Steve]

ich die when it is dried out.  Dry th peice of wood out for a week or two.  It can transfer if kept wet.

I was hoping to avoid that because then I'd have to go through the whole long process of soaking it to waterlog the wood again, that's why I was wondering how long it can live without a host because I know there is a set time that it will die is no host is present but I've heard various time frames from 3 days to 14 days.

[Steve]

Ich is nasty!

Got that right, I lost a few great looking fish to this one. No idea how it started but I'm just glad I finally started using a quarantine tank back in the summer, because if this happened in my main tank I'd be devastated 

[atmagoulick]

In addition, a chemist and aquarium hobbyist questions methylene blue.  Some people might say, methylene blue only turns the water blue.  It does nothing else.  Try that yellow powder mentioned in an earlier post.  It kills bacteria. 

[Ogre44]

Put a heater in the bucket and crank the heat to at least 86 degrees F, with no fish you can go higher
Keep it there for at least 2 weeks.
The heat speeds up the life cycle of the parasite so that the tests or cysts or whatever they're called will hatch faster.
With no hosts they won't be able to breed and will die.
2 weeks is the length of the normal life cycle, so by waiting this long you should have caught them all.

[Steve]

Thanks ogre, I have a spare 100w heater so I'll put that in there and crank it up right now.

[four_by_ken]

If the wood fits... boil it in water.  It even poor boiling water over it till It's submerged in a cooler.

[Regalblue]

If the wood fits... boil it in water.  It even poor boiling water over it till It's submerged in a cooler.

Yep.... I'd just pour boiling water over the wood & soak it in the water overnight. High temperature speeds up the parasites life cycle.

[Ogre44]

Fine, do it the fast easy way