Hyposalinity question

[fadec40]

I have read here about hyposalinity.
I have been running my tank (FO) without fish for about 9 days so far due to the infamous ick.
My question is this:
Is it sufficient enough to run the tank without life for 4-6 weeks, or would it be beneficial to also use the hyposalinity method?
It seems I have to wait about the same time for both methods!

 

[squidd]

Depends on what you have left in the main tank...
Sand Live Rock (micro flora and fauna) inverts, crabs snails and any "non-boney" fishs (sharks, ray. eels) will not get or "host" ick and do NOT do well in hypo...
So standard tank conditions should be maintained for them...
You could however bump the temp up a few degrees (again depending on inhabitants) and "speed" the life cycle of ick along to to help assure none remain in a dormant stage...
What do you have left in the tank...?

 

[fadec40]

I have nothing left in the tank. Just dead coral and rock and the sand.
Nothing live left.
So with this said, is it still important to wait 4-6 weeks?

 

[squidd]

No snails, no crabs, featherdusters, worms in sand, filterfeeders, mini stars, pods, or any form of micro flora or fauna (higher life forms not including bacteria)...?
And yes, it's still a time issue, unless you want to "nuke" the tank and start over...in which case it's still a time issue as you re-cycle...

 

[beth]

If you remove fish from an infected tank for 4-6 weeks, ich can not survive in that tank. Ich is fish-depended and can not complete its lifecycle wo fish.

 

[fadec40]

Thanks for the replies all!

 

[fadec40]

Originally Posted by Squidd
No snails, no crabs, featherdusters, worms in sand, filterfeeders, mini stars, pods, or any form of micro flora or fauna (higher life forms not including bacteria)...?
And yes, it's still a time issue, unless you want to "nuke" the tank and start over...in which case it's still a time issue as you re-cycle...

Nothing else as the tank has been up and running only since July.

 

[squidd]

If the tank is "truely" a FO (fish only) and not a FOWLR (fish only with live rock) you could concievably leave the fish in the main tank and do hypo right there...
This would also assume you have some "other" form of filtration going and not solely dependant on Live Rock/sand for biological filtration...ie: canister or W/D...
BUT... if you have added any Live Rock to the tank, even though you may not see them yet, you probably have started populations of the microflora and fauna listed above...
Maintaining this "diversity" of life will, in the long run, lead to a healthier tank and system...
So unless you are in danger of stressing and losing your fish in QT..It would be best to do a FULL hypo cycle (3-4 weeks AFTER LAST SIGNS of Ick) with the fish all in a QT tank and allowing the maintank to remain "fallow" (fishless) for 4-6 weeks to get a solid handle on the ick situation, and maintain a healthy level of diversity in the main tank...