how to nuke a tank?

[Beemo]

ok so after all my methods were in vain to save my fish they still all died from marine ich and/or marine velvet.
i used quick cure for 6 weeks and then finally coppersafe thinking this will kill the parasites but it didnt.
my last two fish died, covered in white dust, blind and breathing heavily the last few hours. im guessing it was marine velvet.

so now that im fishless im thinking of a few options..
either
1. i add an overdose of coppersafe (there will NEVER be inverts)
2. i can let it run fallow for 10 weeks
3. i can drain the tank and fill it with fresh water hoping to kill any parasite left. the downside to this is i will have to go through a cycle again which then i risk the death of any newcomers added to the tank

i thought of cranking up the heater to the hottest level but im not sure this would work


any suggestions??? please keep in mind this will never have inverts and i keep all nets, equipment etc. seperate from my other tanks (reef and freshwater)

 

[kevin2000]

My 02

Letting the tank go fallow should work ... but breaking the tank down and letting it dry will also work. Neither approach will gaurantee you anything if you don't QT your fish before you put them into your ST.

 

[Beemo]

does fallow actually work?

lets say i dont add anymore coppersafe, would my tank be velvet/ich free in 10 weeks without a host? or does velvet remain in the sand dorment for a long period of time?

there are 4 hermit crabs and one sally lightfoot crab in the tank now, the coppersafe had no effect on them, does this mean theres not enough copper in my system? should i add more copper or just let it go fallow and keep these few inverts for long term (they were intended as a food source for a puffer)

when the 10 weeks of fallow is up, what should i do then? add one fish as a guinea pig and pray he doesnt become infected??
i like damsels, and i did have a yellow tail and a three stripe, so testing on a damsel would be a cheap experiment.

the new fish will be QT'd first

 

[kevin2000]

A ten week fallow period should work for most diseases ... however to be frank you really don't know what killed your fish.

As I recall you had a preditor tank with not much substrate or live rock. I am pretty conservative and if it were my tank I would do a quick tear down .. toss the substrate/live rock (which has sat in copper for a few weeks) .. rinse the tank/filters etc with a mild bleach solution .. let dry and set up the tank again. By the time the tank has cycled your next fish addition should have completed its QT.

Just my 02.

 

[Beemo]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10141239#post10141239 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kevin2000
A ten week fallow period should work for most diseases ... however to be frank you really don't know what killed your fish.

As I recall you had a preditor tank with not much substrate or live rock. I am pretty conservative and if it were my tank I would do a quick tear down .. toss the substrate/live rock (which has sat in copper for a few weeks) .. rinse the tank/filters etc with a mild bleach solution .. let dry and set up the tank again. By the time the tank has cycled your next fish addition should have completed its QT.

Just my 02.

ahh it is such a pain to tear down.
im leaning towards it was velvet. it must be a parasite of some kind. it seemed to fine and powdery to be ich, and the death rate was so rapid with gills being damaged im nearly certain it was velvet. ich just doenst kill as violently as that

im really trying to go against tearing things down. its alot of work that im not up for, and it will be costly all over again since i will need new sand and rocks, sand is cheap..but those rocks cost alot
yes the substrate is very thin

if its not velvet what else can it be?
i just wanna make this as painless on me as possible
fake fish may work :lol: