Fallow periods: Going Fishless

[Wowkuh]

Hi humble fish


I’m a bit confused , I kept my 350 gallons reef tank fishless for more then 3 months now however I left 2 boxer shrimps and one snowflake eel where I thought eels don’t carry ich !!!! Does that mean my fish-less period if almost 4 months is for waste and would have to do it all over again ?!!

Plus I already have a successful batch of fish that went threw a complete qt process for almost a month with cupramin and I’m about to put them in DT next week [emoji26][emoji26]

Would highly appreciate your input

Regards

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/going-fallow-ell-ray-ich-update.314402/

Sorry, but you have to restart clock once you remove eel

 

[naif]

[emoji24][emoji24][emoji24]

Would it be ok if I keep my fish in QT with copper therapeutic levels for another 3 months ?

 

[Wowkuh]

Remove.copper. that's too long in copper

 

[naif]

Remove.copper. that's too long in copper

Will do [emoji106]

 

[naif]

What about a Red Sea cucumber that I have in my reef tank as well since a very long time ? Would I have to remove it as well ?

 

[Brew12]

What about a Red Sea cucumber that I have in my reef tank as well since a very long time ? Would I have to remove it as well ?

Nope. The cucumber is an invert so it will be fine.

 

[naif]

Thanks

 

[Brock0019]

Can't believe I forgot to add this in here -

If you want to test whether or not your fallow period has been successful, do this: Go buy a couple of freshwater black mollies. Drip acclimate them into your DT over a 3-4 hr period. Remember to temperature control their water, add an airstone to provide oxygen, and use a little Prime if you suspect ammonia is starting to build up.

Any (freshwater) diseases the mollies were carrying will be eradicated once they are in full saltwater. So, no need to QT them. However, mollies have no immunity whatsoever to marine diseases, so ich/velvet will show up easily (and quickly) against the black contrast. This is why they are such a good "canary fish" to test whether any diseases are still lurking in your fallow aquarium.

You can keep them if you like or convert them back to full freshwater. They are pretty good at eating GHA, I believe. However, they typically don't like high flow if you have an SPS aquarium.

This article has more info on keeping mollies in SW: http://hubpages.com/animals/Keeping-Breeding-and-Raising-Saltwater-Mollies

currently going through Ich, horrible. already lost a few fish. have the rest in a QT tank, and will start copper tomorrow. I have some CP I am going to does the DT with as well to kill off the free swimmers for sure.
my question is, when you throw the mollie in, and it DOES show signs of a disease....do you have to start the fallow period all over again?

if my tank had only sand and rock in it, is there a faster way to get through this fallow period? drain the tank, let it sit, refill in a few weeks and just start the cycling process over again?

 

[TK_KW]

#reefsquad,

Currently treating ich in QT. My DT has always been fishless, as it's a new build. I have trocus snails and hermits currently in DT tank for last 14days.

Question:

Let's say hypothetically a drip of water from an infected QT tank feel into DT. Does it restart fallow?

 

[Crabs McJones]

#reefsquad,

Currently treating ich in QT. My DT has always been fishless, as it's a new build. I have trocus snails and hermits currently in DT tank for last 14days.

Question:

Let's say hypothetically a drip of water from an infected QT tank feel into DT. Does it restart fallow?

That is a great question. Cross contamination has always been one of my biggest fears. Are you currently running therapudic copper? If so it affects ich during its free floating stage which is likely the only time it'd be able to infect your display tank. Lets ask the qt expert @HotRocks what he thinks.

 

[TK_KW]

That is a great question. Cross contamination has always been one of my biggest fears. Are you currently running therapudic copper? If so it affects ich during its free floating stage which is likely the only time it'd be able to infect your display tank. Lets ask the qt expert @HotRocks what he thinks.

Hey @CrabsMcJones Yes, QT2 currently running copper. It in not at therpudic yet. Its currently at .40 (cupramine). After tonight's dose it will be at .50 therpudic. This QT 2 has all the fish I'm treating.

My QT1 has residual copper at around .22(need to empty clean that tank etc. But it was exposed to ich)

 

[HotRocks]

#reefsquad,

Currently treating ich in QT. My DT has always been fishless, as it's a new build. I have trocus snails and hermits currently in DT tank for last 14days.

Question:

Let's say hypothetically a drip of water from an infected QT tank feel into DT. Does it restart fallow?

In theory a drop of water could only transfer a free swimmer. So if it's fishless, 16 days it would be clean. Free swimming ich can only live a couple days without a fish host velvet free swimming dinospores can survive for up to 2 weeks solely on light. So 16 or so days after you cross contaminated (by means of water) from QT should no longer be a worry.

If you are going fallow for the full 76 days there is no worry here only being 2 weeks into a fallow period.

Now if you add a snail, rock, coral, etc to the fallow system then you would restart the 76 day fallow period.

 

[RazorD]

deleted- just noticed answered above.

 

[Brock0019]

Now if you add a snail, rock, coral, etc to the fallow system then you would restart the 76 day fallow period.

what is the reason for this, if the coral is dipped before being placed in the fallow tank..is it based on the assumption you could be adding other parasites from the other tank to your tank?

likewise, I plan to use a black Molly when my fallow period is over, if ( lord please don't let this happen) the black Molly shows signs of disease....we start this horrible fallow period all over again?

 

[Fudsey]

what is the reason for this, if the coral is dipped before being placed in the fallow tank..is it based on the assumption you could be adding other parasites from the other tank to your tank?

Because you could reintroduce ich on the frag into the tank and would need to leave it fallow. The cysts can survive dips.

likewise, I plan to use a black Molly when my fallow period is over, if ( lord please don't let this happen) the black Molly shows signs of disease....we start this horrible fallow period all over again?

Yes

 

[Brock0019]

Because you could reintroduce ich on the frag into the tank and would need to leave it fallow. The cysts can survive dips.


Yes

dang, well if that dang Molly gets sick I'm done with fish and its corals and inverts;Inpain

 

[Wen]

Horror!
Just completed 76 days fallow.
Acclimated 4 black mollies to the DT. 2 died within 2 days. No spots or anything visible.
Day 4 (of mollies in dt), I noticed my CBB in the big Qt looking thin. (Qt treated with CP 30 days and no spots on any 10 fish.) So, I thought, might as well add the CBB to DT where it can fatten up while I watch it and the remaining 2 mollies for ich.
This afternoon what do I see? A spot on CBB tail! I then fished out the mollies to get a close look. While I don’t see any ich spots, they don’t look well.
Ahah!!! I was so careful these 76 days. Washing and drying and not cross contaminating. Only addition was an urchin that I rinsed very well.
Qt has been a nightmare. I’ve lost 3 fish (jumper, bacterial infections), I’ve saved 2 with a lot of work from bacterial infections, the big/frequent qt water changes and fretting about my beloved fish has been so taxing. I wake up at night worrying if the skimmer/bubblers are working or if everyone is eating properly or if I accounted for all of them or if ammonia is rising or if another fish will come down with an infection.
The thought of 76 more days of keeping fish alive not in the DT is overwhelming! Now I need to treat CBB and mollies with CP before they can go back in big qt to wait out another 76 days. While I am still nursing a fairy wrasse in yet another qt.
My husband thinks I’m nuts for all this qt’ing and I will be nuts when this is all over.
But I’m not giving up.
Advice?
Can we start a fallow support group?

 

[HotRocks]

@Wen

Sorry to hear about your struggles...

The spot on the CBB looks like lympho to me.

I would leave the mollies in the DT for a while longer and see what happens if it were me.

When was the urchin added?

 

[Brock0019]

This is exactly what I fear when my fallow period (going 90 days) are up.
I lost all my fish to whatever the hell was in my tank (ich for sure but probably brook too)
If it comes back after this period. I think I’m draining the tank, throwing out the rock and sand, giving it a nice bleach bath for a few days and starting fresh. At least I will know the DT will be free of it. I dunno, it’s all just ridiculous

 

[Wen]

@Wen

Sorry to hear about your struggles...

The spot on the CBB looks like lympho to me.

I would leave the mollies in the DT for a while longer and see what happens if it were me.

When was the urchin added?

I hope for lympho, but it wasn’t there when it went into the dt.
Will watch to confirm.

Urchin was added 1 week before CBB. Diver caught in keys and shipped to me, was told held with keys pearly jaws, and I did rinse it very well.