Fallow Timeframe

[PSU4ME]

Hello fellow Ich friends,
About 2 months ago my DD PBT went into the display.....a display which i've never seen ich in......and within 3 days he had two spots. This was after I treated him with Cupramine so I had to assume he got it from the display. I immediately removed him and all the other fish.....the next day the spots were gone (I know that the spots were gone but not the ich) and they never came back. All fish were treated with cupramine and I haven't seen a sign of ich in 59 days!

Now - the question. Lee's thread says 8 weeks to keep the tank fallow.....that's 56 days in my book....and with me being at 59, I feel OK.

Anyone have any knowledge to contradict that requiring longer fallow periods? I really want the fish back in the tank (it needs their poop) but i've come this far and don't want to jeopardize it.

I added corals about 2 weeks ago......risky I know......lets hope they had no ich cycts on them because if i get ich again you'll see a for sale thread going up.

thanks

 

[BLADEYAMAHA]

I heard 8 weeks and that's all I know.

 

[BigAl07]

The coral you added... where did they come from?

Here is how I see it... so long as no "new" Ich has been introduced to the tank (new coral, anything transferred from fishy tank like nets etc) you should be good to go. Just remember it only takes a pinch to get it started so be sure you've not accidentally added it to your tank in the 8 week (56 days in my book too).

 

[PSU4ME]

I got the corals from a fellow reefer so it is definitely a risk. Even after the dipping procedure and stuff it could have happened. I think I've done a good job on keeping everything seperate.

Sounds like i'm good to readd the fish tonight......should I go slow or put them all back in? 1 PBT - 1 clown - 3 anthias and a firefish. My coris wrasse still needs to stay in QT but looks super good.

 

[PSU4ME]

What are the odds that a cyst could be on the plug? 5-10%?

 

[BigAl07]

It would be a guess and of course it's "possible" but if the tank is trusted and appears clean then the odds are in your favor.

Have you been "Feeding" the tank while it was fallow? That's key on how to introduce the fish. If you've not fed the tank then odds are you'll have some degree of parameter spike (aka Cycle) as the bacteria need to be fed with no fish present. There population will rise and fall much more rapidly than you'd think based on the amount of food in the tank for them to utilize.

 

[ddelozier]

i've heard 8 weeks, ive heard 12 weeks. Its a risk, but with 8+ weeks done, i'd say odds are in your favor.

 

[PSU4ME]

I have been feeding the tank - about every other day but never less than every 3 days. I have snail, starfish, shrimp and a sea cucumber in there too. I've been trying to keep it going just as normal.

So with the above.....safe to put them all back in tonight?

 

[BigAl07]

Bryan if I woke up in your shoes I'd probably say "I'm gonna do it".... I'd introduce them over the course of a day or so just for good measure. Just make sure your QT matches your DT in terms of temp, salinity, ph so there is less "shock" to them.

 

[PSU4ME]

Alright.....Clownfish first then - you can't kill that guy!

 

[steved13]

Probably goes without saying, but I'd test daily to ensure there is no cycle, if you see a spike you could always take some fish out and let the bacteria catch up.

I know I'm selfish but if you sell and disappear I'd miss ya.

 

[Jetbkk]

I'm just about in the same boat as you on this... my fallow is now at 7 weeks, so I was planning to start re-introducing fish next week. They say at 8 weeks you have a 99.9% chance of zero Ich. Those are pretty good odds.

I have a coris in my QT as well that I won't be putting back in the DT (it was just too hard to catch and they get big and flip over all the corals so I will give it away). Just wondering what the story is with yours..

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[PSU4ME]

I know I'm selfish but if you sell and disappear I'd miss ya.

Thanks buddy, I'd miss you cats too!

I'm just about in the same boat as you on this... my fallow is now at 7 weeks, so I was planning to start re-introducing fish next week. They say at 8 weeks you have a 99.9% chance of zero Ich. Those are pretty good odds.

I have a coris in my QT as well that I won't be putting back in the DT (it was just too hard to catch and they get big and flip over all the corals so I will give it away). Just wondering what the story is with yours..

Good luck and keep us posted!

My coris is new.......I like maintenance type fish, I think they play a nice natural role and I was looking for some yellow in the tank. Time will tell if the little bugger causes any issues.

Fallow tanks stink.....i might start selling fish poop to people with fallow tanks....its needed!

 

[dmatt88]

OK dude. Rules as I remember say 10 weeks. Been there. However I'm not sold that ich doesn't simply exist in tanks. If not stress wouldn't cause it or bring it on. Look at Pauls tank. Adds stuff no qt. Tank maturity is the victory. I don't remember just hope u used the old rock n sand in ur build. Ich happens. So does the flu. We build up immunity. So does our fish.

Unpopular!

..........reefing. not for the faint of heart.

 

[Funlad3]

After ten months without adding anything, fish, coral, invert, a tank is technically ich free. Yeah, that'll happen.

 

[PSU4ME]

Unpopular schmopular.......if it works it works

Lee says that after 8 weeks of fallow, you're good.......and 10-11 months of "nothing" added and the ich will wear itself out and die off (Darwin you say?)

I put the clown and the anthias in today......they look extremely happy to say the least hahaha

I'll keep you updated but hopefully good food, water and a little luck and we will get past this ich crap

 

[reeferman]

forget that stress inducing qt and put them fish in the dt!im ready for my lashing now.

 

[degibson84]

after reading this i can assume that my ich may have come from the one of the two plugs on the frags i bought in the last few weeks. This tank was set up for about two years before my father in law gave it to me and he never had a problem. after adding this two frags is when the issues started.

 

[ReefFrenzy]

Bryan,
I was in your shoes in my 180 FOWLR tank last year and it sucked!! I had everything going well for a few months and I added a large 8" blue girdled angel fish I thought was "too big to QT." Bad move as it soon developed Ich and I suffered 50% losses.

I tried to "manage" the Ich as many do, but it became too painful to see my fish covered in spots each morning and I knew that if they survived and became resistant, that any new additions were likely doomed.

( FYI-I have a ton of pics of my fish and the QT tank, including the step by step results of rehab, including my yellow Tang which looked horrible, but bounced back)

I pulled the survivors and did a 4 week treatment at .45ppm with Cupramine and a 10 day stint of Prazipro.

While fallow I read everything I could about Ich and what the "white papers" said. Here is one quote I found "The longest recorded period of time for tomonts to hatch is 72 days. The life cycle of Cryptocaryon irritans is temperature dependent so it is highly unlikely for such an extended period to occur in a tropical aquarium." (Colorni & Burgess, 1997).

That being said I went 9 weeks before re-introducing and I have not seen a spot of ich in that tank in six months and counting. However I added NOTHING new to the system since the fallow period. No more rock CUC, Macro Algae or anything. Fool me once shame on me....fool me twice.....won't get fooled again! (George W)

I say you should be OK and good to go :snshne:

Just an aside......

The system is a 180 Starfire tank with 55 Long sump packed with Macro, and LR and a Hero 180 skimmer. I also run a 57 watt Aqua/ UV unit at 160 gallon per hour rate 24/7. ( I read and read till my eyes bled on the pros-cons of UV in a marine aquarium. I chose to try one after my Ich crash, but your opinion may vary. It may not cure an outbreak, but it helps me sleep better at night and DAMN my water sparkles :smirk

I learned my lesson off of that outbreak and now every fish I buy gets a serous 8 week QT period.

I personally believe that you CAN have an ich free tank, but you must be diligent with your Fallow period and not allow any cross contamination from adding inverts, corals, macro etc. My 180 tank is isolated from the other 6 tanks in my house and it has its own cleaning tools, feeding cups, water hoses for WC, etc.

Here is a video of my "baby" in its current state taken 3 months ago. The Trigger is A LOT bigger now....

LRS 180 FOWLR TANK - YouTube

You wanna know whats funny? My 90 Reef with 30 sump and 40 Fuge plastered all over my website has not had a diligent QT regimen up until about 6 months ago. We are adding inverts, frags, (no fish since its full) all the time and I have never had a fish loss due to ich or seen a fish show signs. I think alot can be said about the seasoned tanks having an environment that keeps the fish more comfortable. That and I personally avoid sensitive tangs in THAT tank.

That being said I just got my overflow kit for my starfire 95 Rimless tank, so pretty soon I will have another tank to "Play" with! :smirk:

Larry

 

[PSU4ME]

Awesome....thanks for the info Larry. I have the fish back in now and it has been about 4 days and the PBT is ich free. I've never seen ich on any of the fish.....and only 2 spots on the PBT before i yanked him so I'm hoping the tank wasn't "infested". It was fallow for 60 days so here goes nothing!

What a pain in the butt catching those fish!!!