Fallow period!

[rubertoe93]

Good evening R2R
Unfortunately as some may know i had a brake out of ich! Luckily my lfs has taken my remaining fish and is treating and quarentineing them for me, while I allow my tank to go fallow,
I had to remove most of my rock to remove my fish, most of witch has coral glued to it, how long can I remove these rocks from the tank in order to re scape my tank?
how long am I supposed to leave my tank fallow, I do have 1 cleaner and and some clean up crew, how to I do I go about reintroduction of my fish once this is complete,
Kind of stuck and hoping some of you guys can help me out with this!
thanks
Rob

 

[ZoixDark]

Are the rocks still in saltwater with heat and flow?

Fallow is min 72 days. Just go 90 to be safe that it's all dead.

As long as you're still adding nutrients to the tank you can just put them all back.

 

[rubertoe93]

Yeah the tanks as it was all up and running, by that do you mean feed my snails crab and shrimp?

 

[ZoixDark]

Yeah the tanks as it was all up and running, by that do you mean feed my snails crab and shrimp?

Yeah. As long as you keep the bacteria population up you'll be fine.

As long as you keep the rock in water and keep it heated the rock should be fine in a tote or whatever you want to store it in.

 

[rubertoe93]

Okay nice one thank you,

but I mean how long can I take the rock out of the water whilst I re scape it?

 

[ZoixDark]

Okay nice one thank you,

but I mean how long can I take the rock out of the water whilst I re scape it?

Keep it wet. So 10-15 minutes?

 

[rubertoe93]

Keep it wet. So 10-15 minutes?

Yeah I didn’t think it would be long, I hope I don’t have to take it out at all, it’s fairly straight forward scape to be honest,
But if I have to remove some of it to make it easier, I’ll make sure it’s not out for longer than that, I’ll use a spray bottle aswell to keep it wet, I have coral glued to some of it, so I don’t want to cause a massive spike

 

[ZoixDark]

Just do a water change and keep the water in a tote to put the rock you're not working with in.

 

[LegendaryCG]

I’ve had rock shipped to me that was in a box out of water for 4 days in a Wisconsin winter and 3 years later I still have sponges, coral, pods, and bivalves all over it.

 

[ZoixDark]

I think the concern would be starting a mini cycle from excessive die off.

 

[rubertoe93]

I think the concern would be starting a mini cycle from excessive die off.

Yeah that’s the last thing I want to do,
Thankyou for your advice

 

[MnFish1]

The common wisdom is 10-15 minutes - but - in the wild there are places on the reef where corals are exposed to air longer than that. I have had coral shipped to me in wet paper towels overnight - and it worked fine.

Reef Aquarium Fact #277 During low tide corals can be exposed to open air for long periods of time.

We are going to continue discussing the reef aquarium facts submitted by our members. Do you agree or disagree? What are your thoughts? Fact #277 During low tide corals can be exposed to open air for long periods of time. This is one reason they produce a protective slime coat. Truth...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[MnFish1]

PS - just becasue they 'can' be out of water - the answer is 'as little as possible'. When I'm doing the kind of thing that you are - I tend to sprinkle tank water on them with a clean spray bottle to keep them wet.

 

[rubertoe93]

Yeah I managed to get it in done and d sorted in about 20 mins

 

[Gorgar]

Good evening R2R
Unfortunately as some may know i had a brake out of ich! Luckily my lfs has taken my remaining fish and is treating and quarentineing them for me, while I allow my tank to go fallow,
I had to remove most of my rock to remove my fish, most of witch has coral glued to it, how long can I remove these rocks from the tank in order to re scape my tank?
how long am I supposed to leave my tank fallow, I do have 1 cleaner and and some clean up crew, how to I do I go about reintroduction of my fish once this is complete,
Kind of stuck and hoping some of you guys can help me out with this!
thanks
Rob

Just did this last month on my 220, took me an hour just to remove all the rock, then another 2 to catch the fish, id say the whole process took me 4 or 5 hours and I didn't notice any negative effect except a couple irritated zoas