Bacteria while going fishless?

[Waters]

When you are leaving your display tank fishless for 8 weeks to kill the Ich parasite, how do you prevent massive losses of bacteria? Are the CUC and twice a week coral feedings enough to keep the bacteria levels constant or do I need to ghost feed the tank daily?

 

[Trex]

Depends on the size of the tank, and what the bio-load was before hand.

Could throw in some fish food and/or table shimp.

 

[Dalmatia]

When you are leaving your display tank fishless for 8 weeks to kill the Ich parasite, how do you prevent massive losses of bacteria? Are the CUC and twice a week coral feedings enough to keep the bacteria levels constant or do I need to ghost feed the tank daily?

Yes, your coral will be ok
Go for 60 days with out fish in your DT, feed your corals and inverts and they will thrive with no fish

 

[Waters]

Yes, your coral will be ok
Go for 60 days with out fish in your DT, feed your corals and inverts and they will thrive with no fish

I wasn't really concerned about the coral surviving....I was more concerned about the bacteria surviving without all of my fish in the display tank. Once the 8 weeks is up, these fish need to go back into the DT without any type of mini-cycle.

 

[Marshall O]

Feed the tank every other day. You don't want to overfeed, as that will create nutrient issues. This will maintain a healthy level of bacteria IMO.

 

[TJ's Reef]

Agreed with ^above^ just feed lightly every few days or so. Also be prepared for a sudden growth of algae if the tank is mature and had any Tangs present before. I went through a large Hair Algae outbreak on my DT while running 'Fallow' without my Tang maintenance crew.

Cheers, Todd

 

[Waters]

Ok, thanks everybody. I will just continue feeding my coral their Mysis shrimp mixture every couple of days.