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Coral Vue Hydros

ICH: To go fallow or not?


jabeuy

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A hypothetical question (or just a question if this has happened to you):

 

If your tank has ich, but your fish are all recovered and fine now, would you go fallow to get rid of ich?

 

Why or why not?

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A hypothetical question (or just a question if this has happened to you):

 

If your tank has ich, but your fish are all recovered and fine now, would you go fallow to get rid of ich?

 

Why or why not?

depends on whether or not I planned to add more, if yes I would fallow. If not no. Unnecessary stress on the fish would potentially cause losses. Once fish become resistant its good to keep them happy and healthy by feeding a variety of foods and keeping water parameters in good order.

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I have ich, it will always be there, so I am limited to what I can add. I would never go fallow. It's important to understand though that ich will always be in the tank, even if you don't see it, and to some degree the fish will always be bothered by it. There is no 100% immunity and even one fish getting one spot is enough to keep the cycle going.

 

I just don't sweat it, and I'm sure this bothers some people. /shrug :)

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I have ich, it will always be there, so I am limited to what I can add. I would never go fallow. It's important to understand though that ich will always be in the tank, even if you don't see it, and to some degree the fish will always be bothered by it. There is no 100% immunity and even one fish getting one spot is enough to keep the cycle going.

 

I just don't sweat it, and I'm sure this bothers some people. /shrug :)

 

Hey Mark, I'm interested in what happens when you add new fish to your tank. Do you QT them first, then place them in the main tank knowing that they could still possibly get infected with the ich that's already there?

 

At this point, I would be torn on going fallow or not. With the long wait for a new tank, setting it up, etc. a 2 month or so fallow period would seem so damn long lol.

 

I guess it also depends on the size of your tank and intended stocking levels. I think if I were to just add 2 or 3 more fish, I'd be inclined to not go fallow and just hope the new additions will be alright.

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Yesterday, I decided to go fallow, but now I'm a bit skeptical again.

 

If one were to go fallow and properly QT new fish, to be sure 100% that no ich makes it back, wouldn't you need to QT corals and other inverts in case ich somehow took a ride on their body?

And when QT'ing these corals/inverts, you can't do hyposalinity, so you would need to run through the whole recommended 8-10 weeks fallow period for them to ensure any ich cycle is broken.

 

I highly doubt I will QT corals/inverts that extensively. If you have 1 QT tank, and impulse buy a new corals/invert you like, you'd have to restart the QT timer period each time by this thinking.

 

Is my thinking off on this one?

People that have gone fallow, do you QT inverts/corals this extensively?

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IMO, you can get ich any time you add something new to your tank. I bet a lot of people have ich in their tank and don't even know it because their fish are healthy and not showing symptoms. I had ich in my tank that killed both my fish so I did go fallow since I have no fish to QT. When I got new fish, I didn't QT. Too much of a hassle for a nano tank. I just buy my fish from a fish store with a good QT process. I don't QT new corals either. So yes, it is very possible that I will introduce ich again, but to me, the risk is worth not going through all those QT periods. Now, if I own a 100 gallon tank with really expensive fish, it will be a different story. At the end of the day, it all depends how much risk you are willing to take.

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I recently saw some ich (about two weeks ago) on a coral beauty and so I've been struggling trying to sort out a plan. I had to run out of town so that slowed it down. BUT - he is eating and acting completely normal. A spot will appear and then go away - no doubt it's still in the tank.

 

There is no easy option.

 

To go fallow I would have to set up a new tank. Easy enough....I have the equipment. BUT, I would need to take a bunch of my bio media and toss it in there OR do constant water changes to ensure the fish don't get unneeded stress. Plus I would have to catch them...which would be a helluva experience in the main tank.

 

So with all of that said - I am most likely going to just let the fish stay in the tank. I could only add one or two more in the future and I will probably wait a good while before thinking about doing that. Most likely wont. I like the corals best anyway.

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I have ich, it will always be there, so I am limited to what I can add. I would never go fallow. It's important to understand though that ich will always be in the tank, even if you don't see it, and to some degree the fish will always be bothered by it. There is no 100% immunity and even one fish getting one spot is enough to keep the cycle going.

 

I just don't sweat it, and I'm sure this bothers some people. /shrug :)

Couldn't agree more. I've never qt'ed a fish.

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NirvanaandTool

Yesterday, I decided to go fallow, but now I'm a bit skeptical again.

 

If one were to go fallow and properly QT new fish, to be sure 100% that no ich makes it back, wouldn't you need to QT corals and other inverts in case ich somehow took a ride on their body?

And when QT'ing these corals/inverts, you can't do hyposalinity, so you would need to run through the whole recommended 8-10 weeks fallow period for them to ensure any ich cycle is broken.

 

I highly doubt I will QT corals/inverts that extensively. If you have 1 QT tank, and impulse buy a new corals/invert you like, you'd have to restart the QT timer period each time by this thinking.

 

Is my thinking off on this one?

People that have gone fallow, do you QT inverts/corals this extensively?

 

Yes you take a chance every time you add a coral or invert that has not been through a fallow period. I don't personally do this as I don't have the time or space to set up a tank for invert QT. Yes this is a roll of the dice but the chances of getting ich from inverts/coral is pretty low.

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