Ich free seaweed/macroalgae?

hey ... I received some macroalgaes the other day and without thinking, added it all to the main sump. Since I don't know for sure if that tank is 100% ich free or not, I don't want to feed it to my QT tank. I'm wondering if there is a way to be sure it is free of ich to be able to be safely placed in another tank without possibly spreading infection. I have ulva, red, green and brown gracilaria, regular brown seaweed, codium, caulerpa, and chaeto. Would dipping in fresh water do anything? Could it be dipped in paraguard?

I also have a pod tank but wasn't thinking and added some pods from the main tank Filter Socks. Which again, makes that tank POSSIBLY infected. So ... any way to safely treat that tank without waiting the fallow period?

 

I usually wash stuff off with fresh water and inspect but that's not gonna kill eggs if there are any.

 

I wanted to add some for the tang to nibble on but didn't want to introduce anything to the QT. Also didn't want to feed any of the pods that may introduce ich. I picked them off into a small bowl of clean water but then dipped a bit of the sock where there were some smaller pods ... so some of the detritus got in the bowl too ... then without thinking I just poured it into the pod tank.

And I guess I couldn't guarantee the macroalgae was clean when I got it either ...

 

how large are these pods that you are picking out of your sock? I was under the impression that they did not get big enough to independently pick one up, not to mention my eyes would never see it

 

Ampipods

 

• Amphipods are typically less than 10 millimeters................To small for my fingers, I would just smoosh them

 

Haha, but you can see them.

 

10mm=1cm. They are smaller than that. And yes, amphipods. Some are definitely bigger than others. I'd say the largest ones I've picked off are around 1/2cm-1/4in long. Some are quite a bit smaller though. And then there were some copepods too, which I could really only see movement and that's why I dipped the piece of the sock in the water ... possibly transferring ich or something along with the pods.

And I don't have big man hands!

 

When you buy them, how many of them do you usually buy at one time, for say a 100 gallon tank

 

I don't buy them ... they've just been breeding. And since my wrasse hasn't been in the tank for a couple weeks, the populations have exploded! I usually don't find but 5 or less in the filter socks but since the population is so big right now I'm finding more caught in the socks. I did start a small tank just for the pods though ... so I can add a few in here and there. And I guess once that tank has gone through a fallow period without cross contaminating and I'm sure it's ich free, I can feed future QT tanks with the pods too. Live food can't spoil the water! The ones I picked off today just went back in the sump.

 

I understand you don't buy them, I however have never bought them and I need to establish a colony of them as apparent they eat algea and a lot of things eat them. I have seen them advertised in bags of 500 to 3000. I was just curious how many I should buy (I won't be rescuing them from my socks so they will have too reproduce themselves)

 

I don't think they are very effective as algae control and sure would tank a lot of pods to fill up my fish lol

 

I'm a believer in seeding with pods.

I've bought cope/ampepods a few times from different vendors. I recommend!

 

I'm not recommending, but I've never rinsed or taken precaution with macros

 

I have read advertisements that state that their macros are not grown in tanks with fish and eels in them. Some people must worry about that. I have also read that ich needs a hard surface on which to attach to while it's not on a fish, so plants would not work.

 

I gotcha! No clue! Sorry ... if you don't have a predator and a safe place for them to inhabit, then they will probably populate quickly. Since the wrasse isn't constantly picking for them they have been able to multiply well.

 

Don't think I would have thought about it other than I've just gone through the hassle of TTM and didn't want to reinfect by introducing algae from the possibly infected tank.

 

But could they not be in the water on the plant during the free swimming stage?