Does the ick harm my live rock and the beneficial bacteria in it?

[reefnut007]

Newbie here...unfortunately, we caught ick in my Naso Tang late and the treatment did not help him survive. Does the ick harm my live rock and the beneficial bacteria in it? A related question is does ick medication itself harm beneficial bacteria within the live rock? Thanks for any help you can provide.

p.s: I have a 75 gallon starter FOWLR tank with no sump; 65 pounds of live Fiji rock that has cured and cycled for over 3 months before first fish was added.

 

[ndrwater]

Ich itself doesn't hurt the beneficial bacteria in and on live rock. Live rock is and can be a surface in which different stages of the ich parasite can grow. Ich has a life cycle that lasts +/- 8 weeks. That is the reason you often see the suggestion to let the tank go fallow (fishless) for 76 days to completely eliminate ich from a tank.
As for your other question, depending on the medication used to treat the ich, making the assumption that the live rock stayed in the tank during treatment, the answer is potentially, but unlikely. Copper based medications commonly used to treat ich WILL be absorbed into the rock making the rock potentially lethal to invertabartes. In a FOWLR, that isn't an issue to the fish, but any inverts to be added later it would potentially be disastrous.

 

[reefnut007]

Ich itself doesn't hurt the beneficial bacteria in and on live rock. Live rock is and can be a surface in which different stages of the ich parasite can grow. Ich has a life cycle that lasts +/- 8 weeks. That is the reason you often see the suggestion to let the tank go fallow (fishless) for 76 days to completely eliminate ich from a tank.
As for your other question, depending on the medication used to treat the ich, making the assumption that the live rock stayed in the tank during treatment, the answer is potentially, but unlikely. Copper based medications commonly used to treat ich WILL be absorbed into the rock making the rock potentially lethal to invertabartes. In a FOWLR, that isn't an issue to the fish, but any inverts to be added later it would potentially be disastrous.

Thank you nrdwater for your detailed answer! Sorry I did not get to thank you earlier. I appreciate the time you took. Especially thank you for letting me know about the 76 days fallow to completely eliminate the ich. FYI, I used the API LIQUID SUPER ICK CURE for the treatment. I have moved the other two fishes into a small (10g) hospital tank for treatment so the DT (75g) is now fallow. Thanks again!