whats better to do when tank is infested

[Zacktosterone]

just for my own knowledge. if a tank breaks out in brook, ich, velvet, anything fish related we can think of.

is it better to let the tank sit fishless for 72 days.

is it better to bleach everything and reboot the system.

 

[Dmorty217]

just for my own knowledge. if a tank breaks out in brook, ich, velvet, anything fish related we can think of.

is it better to let the tank sit fishless for 72 days.

is it better to bleach everything and reboot the system.

Didn't take the poll because I think different disease call for different approaches. Brook and velvet I would break down the tank and bleach everything or something similar. Ich and most others I would isolate inverts and treat everything. Fallow isn't always 100% effective

 

[tassod]

Been down that road more than once and it was a complete waist of time to let the tank sit fishless. That's just my experience

 

[ThRoewer]

If any possible you should do your best to keep ich out of your tanks. Unfortunately that fails more often than not.
In my experience the best way to deal with ich - should it have made it into your tank - is to keep the fish happy, fit and healthy and let them handle it on their own by developing immunity. Good water quality and a low stress environment is key. I only treat fish that get actually get sick (= get more and more parasites with each wave) and then not with the primary goal of eradicating ich but rather to give the fish a break in which they can build up immunity. So far that worked best for me (but I stay away from tangs like the devil from holy water).

Brook and velvet should never make it near your tank. That's why everyone of my new fish gets a formalin dip before it goes even into a QT.
Inverts and corals I try to buy only from sources that keep them in clean systems and quarantine them if any possible.

 

[Zacktosterone]

If any possible you should do your best to keep ich out of your tanks. Unfortunately that fails more often than not.
In my experience the best way to deal with ich - should it have made it into your tank - is to keep the fish happy, fit and healthy and let them handle it on their own by developing immunity. Good water quality and a low stress environment is key. I only treat fish that get actually get sick (= get more and more parasites with each wave) and then not with the primary goal of eradicating ich but rather to give the fish a break in which they can build up immunity. So far that worked best for me (but I stay away from tangs like the devil from holy water).

Brook and velvet should never make it near your tank. That's why everyone of my new fish gets a formalin dip before it goes even into a QT.
Inverts and corals I try to buy only from sources that keep them in clean systems and quarantine them if any possible.

Thank you!!. I think I might be in trouble as I have brook. The only fish that I didnt dip and only quarantined ended up with brook. I have no idea how as I've never seen it. And now my fish are dropping. So I don't know if I should tare it down and bleach the system or just re quarantine , treat, and let it sit for 3 months. I also don't know what I'm going to do with the coral for quarantine. Some of them are glued to rocks. And if I have to purge the system I don't know what I'm doing with the rocks that the corals are on, like my zoanthids

 

[ThRoewer]

As far as I know Brook doesn't have a cyst stage and should die out after 6 weeks without fish to feed on - 8 to 10 weeks fallow should rid your system of it.

If it is a fish only tank with just artificial or dead rock bleaching may be a good alternative, but you need to make sure the bleach gets everywhere.
If you have any corals I would go with option A (fallow)

While you rid your tank of the parasite you also need to clean up the surviving fish. That's best done with daily tank transfers and formalin dips for a week.

 

[Zacktosterone]

As far as I know Brook doesn't have a cyst stage and should die out after 6 weeks without fish to feed on - 8 to 10 weeks fallow should rid your system of it.

If it is a fish only tank with just artificial or dead rock bleaching may be a good alternative, but you need to make sure the bleach gets everywhere.
If you have any corals I would go with option A (fallow)

While you rid your tank of the parasite you also need to clean up the surviving fish. That's best done with daily tank transfers and formalin dips for a week.

Daily tank transfers??? For how long? Also I can always just kill the rock and start over. I'll be upgrading soon anyway

 

[ThRoewer]

Daily formalin dips for a week and after that transfer to a clean tank.

As for the rocks, if you plan to upgrade, you should ideally do a fallow/curing period anyway - at least with new live rocks.

 

[Deinonych]

As far as I know Brook doesn't have a cyst stage and should die out after 6 weeks without fish to feed on - 8 to 10 weeks fallow should rid your system of it.

+1

Brooklynella multiplies by binary fission directly on the fish. Hence the reason it is so virulent.

 

[Zacktosterone]

+1

Brooklynella multiplies by binary fission directly on the fish. Hence the reason it is so virulent.

Can all fish diseases be avoided by fallow?

 

[ThRoewer]

Can all fish diseases be avoided by fallow?

No, Uronema marinum is only a opportunistic parasite and therefore doesn't need a fish for survival. It normally feeds on bacteria that live in detritus or on dead bodies.

Also many viral and bacterial diseases are not necessarily wiped out by fallow.

 

[kmbyrnes]

Agree with dmorty217. Different causes call for different measures. I have done both.
The best solution is to not be in that situation in the first place.
But that lesson seems to be one we all learn the hard way.

 

[Zacktosterone]

Agree with dmorty217. Different causes call for different measures. I have done both.
The best solution is to not be in that situation in the first place.
But that lesson seems to be one we all learn the hard way.

I guess I'll gave to extend quarantines to 2 months instead of 1

 

[microlady]

I voted to tear it down. The reason being is that fallow periods have not worked for me. Some sort of parasite, that I think is marine ich, is entrenched in my tank and fallow periods didn't work in my case. I just lost another angel and now I'm in the middle of another outbreak that is impacting most of my fish in my 100 gallon reef. After 20 years, I can honestly say I am pretty much done with this hobby. It does not bring me joy, and that is what hobbies should do. There is no joy in watching your fish scratch miserably on the rocks, and having quarantine tanks sitting all over the house (especially if they were useless in my case). I'm sorry to sound negative, but I'm really jaded. Life is too short to invest time and money in something that is futile. Good luck.

 

[microlady]

On a positive note, all of my corals and inverts are looking great. My husband said we should just keep them without fish. A tank without fish is ridiculous to me.