Does Fallow work?

S

Shilpan

Member
Hello everyone
As I mentioned in a previous post I got Ich in my main tank (I failed to pre-emptively medicate a new tang during QT). The main tank has corals and while I was considering removing invertebrates and corals and dosing cupramine and then cuprasorb this seems risky. The fish are doing fine now, only 5-10 spots on the tang and 2 on the foxface left (there were 50-100 on the tang when this started).

So I'm currently researching setting up a larger quarantine tank for all my fish to be medicated and going fallow in my DT for 12 weeks total. I wanted to ask the experienced reefers out there what their experience is with going fallow. What's the likelihood of eradicating Ich? A LFS guy says you can never eradicate it and the parasites remain dormant. I don't believe this because online everyone seems to use the Fallow method. Is it 99% effective if I wait 12 weeks fishless?
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
Ich needs fish. With out them it dies. Ich does not just happen it has to be introduced, yes a long enough fallow time does work. I used it in my tank 3 yrs ago.
 
S

Shilpan

Member
Thank you! So the dormant form on the rocks and sand will eventually die off.

Also another question, for a tang, med sized foxface, bangaii Cardinal, firefish, 2 small clowns, small goby and an adult fairy wrasse, what min size tank what they all be ok in while my 100 gallon tank fallows? Would a 29gallon tank suffice for 10-12 weeks?
 
lmforbis

lmforbis

Well-Known Member
I'd go with the 40. Let the 100 gallon go fallow for 76 days. Treat the fish during the fallow period for ich. Hyposalinity is easiest for the fish as long as you have a calibrated refractometer.
 
S

Shilpan

Member
Thanks guys! Since my fish seem to be recovering I'll take my time to get a proper quarantine set up which is adequately cycled. Then I can keep the fish in the 40 gallon without too much stress with water changes.

So the 40 gallon should have PVC pipes for hiding, no sand and no live rock. Oh hold on what about my sand sifting goby? I mean it eats prepared food but it'll need sand to sift right?
 
S

Shilpan

Member
And also hyposalinity alright, I assume you're suggesting this because copper is toxic to the fish and while hyposalinity requires extra attention to maintaining pH it's less stressful on the fish and EQUALLY AS EFFECTIVE? (Or is it less effective?)
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
Ph will drop with hypo, however if done slowly ph effects fish very little. If you go with hypo u can use a very light coating of sand if u wish. The issue w hypo is it will kill everything in a dsb (deep sand bed) . I would add a sponge filter now to your dt. Try and get as much good bacteria living on it as you can then use it in your qt. The issue however is you don't want to wait too long for treatment. Ich can kill fast
 
lmforbis

lmforbis

Well-Known Member
I would use a small glass container of sand. Preferably from another tank that is not infected. Otherwise I'd go no sand. You don't want to bring in any cysts with the sand. It would defeat the purpose of the treatment to have cysts hatch during or even after treatment while waiting for fallow period. Treatment only kills the free swimming parasites.

I like hypo because it is way easier on the fish. You can treat the water with products like prime to detox ammonia (can't use with copper).

An other option is tank transfer method. This is what I use on all fish I QT. Kind of hard to explain but if you search on reef to reef humble fish has a nice write up on it.
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
I would recommend doing hyposalinity rather than copper treatment. You can safely do hypo on new fish rather than dose with copper as a preemptive measure. If you choose to use copper, don't rush, wait until you actually see ich or other parasites on your fish before using this medication. Copper is a toxin harmful to fish as well as parasites. There is some evidence that tangs can have issues with copper and my be a contributing factor to those fish developing Head and Lateral Line Erosion (HLLE). Also, used to excess, you run the potential of encouraging resistant strains of the parasites you are trying to treat. QT should be a min. of 3 weeks during which you are closely observing your fish, at least twice a day, and preferably using a magnifying glass to thoroughly review the condition of your fish. At the point you discover a problem, that is when you treat, preferably, rather than pre-emptive medications. Hypo, being a non-medication, has benefits for fish in QT regardless of disease presence.

https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/c/index.php/articles/content/hyposalinity.100

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/6/fish
 
S

Shilpan

Member
Thank you I'll research hypo and tank Transfer

Yeah maybe after a few weeks of treatment then I'll add a small container of fresh new sand for the goby so he has something to sift.
 
S

Shilpan

Member
Hey guys any tips for catching my fish from a 100 gallon LR aquarium? It'll probably be a month before everything is ready and the QT up and running so I have time to plan this out
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Hypo is equally as effective and safer for fish. Also, you can add a bit of sand now to your QT for the goby.

You can never use copper in a tank that will contain corals and inverts, so that was never a good option. However, you could have treated the fish with hypo in the display tank after removing corals and inverts. Sand could also remain but you'd have some die-off of sand critters. Many (sand critters) still survive hypo though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top