cleanting a tank after total wipe out

Question
Hi David.  I gambled and lost - added 5 new fish to a 45 gallon tank, and the entire tank succumbed to a severe ick infestation after about 2 weeks.  Lost everyone, fish I've had for years.  I'm sick over it.  But, have been reading all about erradicating Ick and this is my plan -checking with you to see if it sounds right.  It's a 45 gallon tank.  Emptied tank of all rock and artificial plants, and boiled.  Raised temp to 92.  Leaving tank completely without fish for about 5 weeks. Changed filters, rinsed (but not replaced...) biologic filter media.  I figure that the bacteria still present will be good for the new tank, and will essentially mean I don't have to re-cycle the water.  Is this adequate?  Should I just bail out of the whole thing, empty the water, dry the tank and start again?  From everything I've read, no ick parasite can live without fish for that long, or at that high a temp.  I'd rather not have to refill the tank - it's at the bottom of a long staircase, and frankly, is difficult to do, plus I don't want to have to go through all of that cycling again.  Am I on the right track?  PS - I intend to set up a quarantine tank, so that next time I don't gamble with my whole tank of fat, happy fish.   Many thanks for your help  Ruth

Answer
Hi Ruth:  ICH dies after 24 hours if it does not have a host... so after about 5 days your tank is completely free of ICH... no need to boil anything... ICH is also present in the tap water we use in our tanks and many fish carry ICH in their gills.  ICH requires a drop in temperature to activate and you may want to check your heater... This is a great time to start using a heater if you shut your heater off for the summer because here in California the days are warm but the nights are getting cold and that change in temperature is just what ICH needs to start to grow.  Also... when treating ICH it is critical that you raise the temperature in your tank to about 82 degrees (78 for goldfish) because ICH has a nine day life cycle ... meaning that it lives for 9 days but 8 of those 9 days it is immune to medication and on the 9th day when it is in its free swimming stage is the only day you can kill it... The warmer water shrinks its life cycle from 9 days to about 3 days and you have a much better chance of killing off the parasites when you use heat without losing your fish.... dave