Fishless for over 2 months, now what?

alvin

alvin

Member
Hello again SWF,
I had an ich outbreak more than 2 months ago. So the tank has been Fishless/Invertless for over 2 months now. I still have the Sand and Live Rock in there. Is there anything else I need to do? I plan on doing a large water change 30%? Do I need to do anything to the rocks or sand before I start introducing some more fish?
Oh, I have 2 Fluval 405 Canisters, do I need to thoroughly clean those bad boys out?
 
jackri

jackri

Active Member
The ich should be gone now without a host for that long. One thing you need to do before introducing new fish is QUARANTINE and you should be ok.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member

Prepare a QT tank first. Put any new fish in QT one at a time or at the most two. This will prevent future problems with ich.
Whenever you clean a canister..rinse the media in saltwater shaking it around...not fresh, that will kill the good bacteria. I do mine when I do a water change...I save some old water in a bucket and use that water to clean my canister media.
The canister does not hold ich so don't worry about that, after 2 months and no fish there is no more ich... anywhere, period.
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
If you do not QT, it is all for nothing. Any fish, even if it looks clean, can have ick.
Also, I would ghost feed your tank at least a week before adding anything again (but since you will QT your fish, it will be another 6 weeks before you add anything). But the bacteria will die back in the interim. If you just add a fish without rebuilding it, technically, you could have an ammonia issue.
 
alvin

alvin

Member
Originally Posted by ophiura
http:///forum/post/3171172
If you do not QT, it is all for nothing. Any fish, even if it looks clean, can have ick.
Also, I would ghost feed your tank at least a week before adding anything again (but since you will QT your fish, it will be another 6 weeks before you add anything). But the bacteria will die back in the interim. If you just add a fish without rebuilding it, technically, you could have an ammonia issue.
Rather than ghost feeding, can I just leave some silversides in the tank and measure for ammonia?
OR should I go ahead and buy some pure ammonia, and see if the bacteria takes care of it.
Should I be doing this before the large water change?
Oh, also, I haven't been putting anything in my tank during this time, does that mean my good bacteria is dead? I hope I don't have to cycle again. I have a 110 gale tank with about 100 lbs LR and 100 lbs of Live sand.
Thanks for the replies. Oh, hopefully someone can also reply to my question about the WavePoint T5 Retrofit kit. My lights burned out during the fishless stage, so I think it's perfect time to upgrade.
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
I would treat the tank as though it has fish in it, which is not leaving silversides or pouring pure ammonia in the tank. All you are trying to do is ask "if I add a fish, will I get an ammonia spike."
If you push the tank hard now, it may well cycle...though much reduced in overall time. It depends on several things overall and is hard to predict. Better to be safe than sorry.
Any fallow tank without fish in it should, IMO, be sporadically "fed" to keep bacteria populations up. So while you have your fish in QT, you should throw a bit of food in the display now and then.
As for when you do a water change, even if a tank has no fish in it, it is best to continue with the once a month minimum water change so as not to get out of the habit :)
 
alvin

alvin

Member
Originally Posted by ophiura
http:///forum/post/3171895
I would treat the tank as though it has fish in it, which is not leaving silversides or pouring pure ammonia in the tank. All you are trying to do is ask "if I add a fish, will I get an ammonia spike."
If you push the tank hard now, it may well cycle...though much reduced in overall time. It depends on several things overall and is hard to predict. Better to be safe than sorry.
Any fallow tank without fish in it should, IMO, be sporadically "fed" to keep bacteria populations up. So while you have your fish in QT, you should throw a bit of food in the display now and then.
As for when you do a water change, even if a tank has no fish in it, it is best to continue with the once a month minimum water change so as not to get out of the habit :)
So if I feed my tank as though there is fish in it, am I supposed to remove the "uneaten" food? I put 1 silverside on Friday. Should I take it out now? I mean, 1 silverside in a 110 shouldn't be pushing my tank too hard.
I am setting up my QT tank soon. My HOB filter will be coming Thursday and my new T5 lighting on Weds. Can't wait. So yah, if you can help me with the ghost feeding thing, as to whether or not to take out the food (flake, pellet), that would be great.
I also have my skimmer turned on now.
 
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