How can I know my fallow period is over?

[Sharkbait19]

Hello.
I've got less than a month to go in my fallow period, and then this nerve-wracking thought hit me-- What if my fallow period doesn't work? What if I introduce my new fish after the 90 days, and they get sick again?
My question is-- is there a "safe" way to test if a fallow period is complete? Or is it really just hoping that the harmful parasites are all dead?
Thanks a ton!

 

[ReeferWarrant]

Interested in seeing the answer, my assumption is no and that you just hope for them to be dead. I would honestly go past the fallow period just to be safe and just have some corals in there that I enjoy.

 

[Cell]

Just make sure you do the full 76 days and you should be fine unless you cross contaminated at some point during the fallow.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Just make sure you do the full 76 days and you should be fine unless you cross contaminated at some point during the fallow.

I'm running 90 days, just for assurance. The only life that has entered the tank since the beginning of the fallow is coral and some snails, all of which are from a store who quarantines and dips their aquatic life. Otherwise there shouldn't be any cross-contamination. I am more concerned about the velvet and brook that was in my tank (though there was ich too, as I got everything from Petco initially), as I could probably save the fish from ich pretty easily.

 

[Cell]

Really bad idea to add coral/critters imo. But if you trust the store competely, so be it.

Edit - Actually, dips dont kill toments iirc so...

 

[Cell]

If you are so concerned about it working, why take the risk? Tbh, I'd reset my 76 days from when you last added anything.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Really bad idea to add those critters imo. But if you trust the store competely, so be it.

Yeah, I agree that it wasn't the brightest idea. But I did double and triple check with the lfs and they've assured me their tanks are parasite free. All the tanks were pretty clean of death or disease, so it seemed pretty safe. That was back when I wasn't 100% clear on the meaning of fallow. Now, I may be more reluctant to add even inverts without QT.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

A fresh water black molly can be used for testing the tank. Slowly acclimate it to sw and place in tank. If it shows signs of ich or velvet, remove from tank, slowly acclimate to fresh water and then reset clock. Molly’s are tough and the disease will typically present quickly as Molly’s have no resistance to sw parasites.

Note: reacclimating to fw will save the fish. No need to kill it for testing. It can also be added back in after the fallow reset and they make great algae eaters.

 

[eggplantparrot]

maybe add black mollys that have never been in salt water before as canary?

 

[Sharkbait19]

I thought about the black molly method. The only issue I do have with it is the fact that if it is infected, the clock resets...
But it is something I am willing to do, especially seeing how good of algae eaters they are.
For size of the tank (13.5 gallons), are guppies just as effective, or are they more likely to die?

 

[Eagle_Steve]

I thought about the black molly method. The only issue I do have with it is the fact that if it is infected, the clock resets...
But it is something I am willing to do, especially seeing how good of algae eaters they are.
For size of the tank, are guppies just as effective, or are they more likely to die?

I have never used guppies in sw, except to feed baby lions.

 

[Sharkbait19]

If the fallow period did hypothetically fail, after I add new fish, would my 10 gallon QT tank be sufficient enough to hold 3-4 fish (hypothetically speaking).

 

[Eagle_Steve]

If the fallow period did hypothetically fail, after I add new fish, would my 10 gallon QT tank be sufficient enough to hold 3-4 fish (hypothetically speaking).

Depends on the fish and the amount of work you are willing to put in. I do hybrid TTM and use 10 gallons for all but tangs. They get 20 longs for them.

 

[FullSend]

Guppies are more sensitive to saltwater. It takes way longer acclimate them and they cannot handle the higher flow.

 

[wishnewfish]

Really bad idea to add coral/critters imo. But if you trust the store competely, so be it.

Edit - Actually, dips dont kill toments iirc so...

I got ich in my tank when I added a BTA to my tank from another tank.

The other tank has tangs which seemed fine but right after i added the BTA, my fish got a bad ich.
The BTA must have held on to some substrate and it transferred to my tank.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

I got ich in my tank when I added a BTA to my tank from another tank.

The other tank has tangs which seemed fine but right after i added the BTA, my fish got a bad ich.
The BTA must have held on to some substrate and it transferred to my tank.

There has been mention that ich can live in the water the nem has inside of it as well. I haven’t seen any papers documenting this, but I do not see what it couldn’t be a possibility.

 

[Sharkbait19]

I suppose I could go forward with hope that everything goes okay. I suppose unlike my first time with fish, I will be prepared for what could go wrong. If I find ich spots, I'll just remove the fish. If I find the 10 gal to crammed of a QT tank, I could probably just get a larger cheap tank to put the fish.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

I suppose I could go forward with hope that everything goes okay. I suppose unlike my first time with fish, I will be prepared for what could go wrong. If I find ich spots, I'll just remove the fish. If I find the 10 gal to crammed of a QT tank, I could probably just get a larger cheap tank to put the fish.

Plastic totes can even be used for qt. Hob filter fits on the sides the same as a real tank. Then when done, you have a tote to store things lol. Always different options.

 

[Sharkbait19]

I could probably get a sterlite that might do the trick. As long as it's ich that would potentially show up and not brook or velvet, I can probably save the fish easily. I may even try ich management, but it seems too risky for a nano reef.

 

[wishnewfish]

if you fallow for 90 days. you should be 99.9999% confident. Dont over stress. you will be fine.
even if you have with astronomical odds transfer a cyst through a snail or something, it would have no where to start the cycle and died already by now.