Fallow period for cryptocaryon irritans (ich)

[arom]

I'm in the same situation as above, going from a 90 (that has ich) to a 120. Should I remove the fish in the 90 now, putting them in HT leaving the tank fallow for 10 weeks. Once 10 weeks is up, transfer corals inverts, etc over to new tank? Trying to figure out the best game plan to moving everything over to the new tank. The new tank has yet to be filled so I know there will be a cycle period anyway but want to figure the steps out..

 

[snorvich]

I have a problem with ich in my old tank that has coral and fish. Im Just setting up a new tank that is going through cycle 8ft x 2ft x 28in with new sand and new live rock and base rock. Now what is the best way of transfering all fish and corals but making sure I don't get ich in the new tank? Should I transfer all corals first? Only fish in current tank showing signs of ich is the blue tang. It has had it several times but it doesn't seem to bother it. Fish in tank are.
1x Blue tang
1 x scopas tang
1 x six line wrasse
1 x flame angel
1 x emporer angel
2 x clown fish
1 x naso tang
1 x bristle tooth tang

For best results, start a separate thread in Fish Disease Forum. This post will go unnoticed otherwise.

 

[snorvich]

I'm in the same situation as above, going from a 90 (that has ich) to a 120. Should I remove the fish in the 90 now, putting them in HT leaving the tank fallow for 10 weeks. Once 10 weeks is up, transfer corals inverts, etc over to new tank? Trying to figure out the best game plan to moving everything over to the new tank. The new tank has yet to be filled so I know there will be a cycle period anyway but want to figure the steps out..

For best results, start a separate thread in Fish Disease Forum. This post will go unnoticed otherwise.

 

[LamboBoy]

Does this "fallow period of 72 days" also works for Marine Velvet?

 

[snorvich]

Does this "fallow period of 72 days" also works for Marine Velvet?

I recommend 6-8 weeks and that is also the recommendation of Steven Pro (that really is his name)

 

[tropfishnut2]

Ich and Flukes

Ich and Flukes

How can you treat for ich and flukes simultaneously in a saltwater community tank?

 

[LouisianaReefer]

I have a 75 gallon display with 30 gallon sump with moderate stock of corals only in the display. If it is being left fallow for 8 weeks, how much should I run my skimmer? I do not feed the corals heavily or frequently. Other than that, I don't have much bio load because there the display is void of fish. Lately, I only run the skimmer at night and dose Fuel by Seachem twice per week. I do not want to over-skim all the nutrients out of the tank.

 

[keithhays]

I have a 75 gallon display with 30 gallon sump with moderate stock of corals only in the display. If it is being left fallow for 8 weeks, how much should I run my skimmer? I do not feed the corals heavily or frequently. Other than that, I don't have much bio load because there the display is void of fish. Lately, I only run the skimmer at night and dose Fuel by Seachem twice per week. I do not want to over-skim all the nutrients out of the tank.

A couple thoughts:
1. I would keep feeding the tank the same as you would if the tank had the fish in it.
2. Bio-load from the food or fish doesn't really have anything to do with the fallow period, but you want maintain your system in a way so that when you do add the fish back, the bio filter doesn't know the difference.
3. There are many things to worry about in tanks, low nutrients is not one of them unless you specifically setup your system to house high nutrient needing creatures. Even then most tanks (not all) will still qualify as high nutrient systems even if you add 20 skimmers.
4. I don't want to get into the time discussion on fallow period, but before adding you entirely population of hopefully ich free fish back to the system, I would add a potential sacrificial lamb to the system for several weeks to be sure.

 

[snorvich]

A couple thoughts:

4. I don't want to get into the time discussion on fallow period, but before adding you entirely population of hopefully ich free fish back to the system, I would add a potential sacrificial lamb to the system for several weeks to be sure.

No. Ich will not present itself visibly necessarily so this will not be effective.

 

[LouisianaReefer]

Thanks for the help guys! I now realize that I need to start feeding my corals more.

This is an excellent, helpful thread. My understanding is that after 8 weeks there should not be any possibility of the ich parasite still existing in the system.

 

[snorvich]

Thanks for the help guys! I now realize that I need to start feeding my corals more.

This is an excellent, helpful thread. My understanding is that after 8 weeks there should not be any possibility of the ich parasite still existing in the system.

For 100% certainty, the number is 72 days.

 

[inigomontoya]

Quick question on starting the clock for a fallow period. I lost some fish and am unable to get to them in the rocks. I added some new crabs and nassarius so that should help finish them off, but at what point can I start the clock?
In other words, can the parasites live in dead fish to where you can't start the fallow clock until fully decomposed? Is the same true for velvet and ich?

 

[snorvich]

Parasites leave dead fish. So that is when the clock starts. But some fish (my guess is about 5%) develop immunity even though they carry the parasite. In that circumstance, the clock does not start)

 

[Reefer07]

I finally got rid of my fish the other day to my friend who is going to qt them. I had some kind of ich/velvet thing I was fighting.
Anyways, if this is a parasite that feeds off fish and there are no fish in the tank how can it possibly stay alive for 12 weeks or whatever you guys are saying. And not only that, if I had a fish I qt'd for a couple months and I threw it in a brand new tank, all base rock, nothing existing. And I had major ph swings and stress factors your saying that the fish wouldnt get ich?
I'm just a little skeptical about having to leave my tank fallow for this long as many people I have heard say ich is always in a tank.

 

[mattsilvester]

I finally got rid of my fish the other day to my friend who is going to qt them. I had some kind of ich/velvet thing I was fighting.
Anyways, if this is a parasite that feeds off fish and there are no fish in the tank how can it possibly stay alive for 12 weeks or whatever you guys are saying. And not only that, if I had a fish I qt'd for a couple months and I threw it in a brand new tank, all base rock, nothing existing. And I had major ph swings and stress factors your saying that the fish wouldnt get ich?
I'm just a little skeptical about having to leave my tank fallow for this long as many people I have heard say ich is always in a tank.

It's all about probabilities, but if you follow the procedure correctly and precisely then you have (literally) a 99.7% chance of correctly quarantined fish never contracting ich in your tank.

Don't forget that if you introduce anything wet from another system, including corals or other items with hard surfaces (rocks, snails, etc.) then they may harbor the parasite - hence should be suitably quarantined.

 

[snorvich]

For 100% certainty, the number is 72 days.

This. ich cannot complete its life cycle without a fish host.

 

[appellativo]

I finally got rid of my fish the other day to my friend who is going to qt them. I had some kind of ich/velvet thing I was fighting.
Anyways, if this is a parasite that feeds off fish and there are no fish in the tank how can it possibly stay alive for 12 weeks or whatever you guys are saying. And not only that, if I had a fish I qt'd for a couple months and I threw it in a brand new tank, all base rock, nothing existing. And I had major ph swings and stress factors your saying that the fish wouldnt get ich?
I'm just a little skeptical about having to leave my tank fallow for this long as many people I have heard say ich is always in a tank.

I recreated my current tank with all dead stuff and cycled with ammonia, and my current fish I treated with tank transfer method, which is guaranteed to eliminate ich. Then for any new fish I did TTM (tank transfer method) on them (which is a sort of quarantining, if you will, or treating, or eliminating, whatever...of ich) before they went into the new sterile (of ich) tank, and I remain ich free. And, that's after my heater defaulted in the ON position killing one of my fish and some of my coral. If there was any ich in the tank to outbreak then, it would have done so! But there was none, so it didnt. For those determined to start a tank (or do the time and effort to remove fish and leave fallow their current tank,) it is possible to eliminate ich and do the proper precautions to avoid introducing it in the future. If I was a big coral buff, I'd set up a coral QT tank with lighting and put new additions in there for 72 days before putting those corals into the main tank. As it stands now, I don't put coral in very often (no new corals in about a year), and I only buy from stores that dont keep fish in with their corals.

 

[snorvich]

I only buy from stores that dont keep fish in with their corals.

Which is critical. Some (many?) stores keep a low level of copper in their system and those situations can mask many parasites.

 

[mandarinfanatic]

Which is critical. Some (many?) stores keep a low level of copper in their system and those situations can mask many parasites.

low level copper is a placebo.

 

[snorvich]

low level copper is a placebo.

No, it is worse than that, it will mask cryptocaryon irritans and oodinium. Possibly brook and uronema as well.