New Ich Fallow Period

[Humblefish]

First off, I must thank [USER=81]@victoly[/USER] for bringing this recent study to my attention: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0044848617317544

 

It has now been peer-reviewed and the findings verified by other scientists. I'd also like to share a couple of other related studies (below):

 

https://www.jstor.org/stable/3284114?seq=1

 

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2761.1979.tb00146.x

 

These studies verify what we have all long suspected: Lower temperature slows down Ich's lifecycle, whereas higher temperature speeds it up! Of course, we must still keep in mind that different strains of Ich might react differently to various temperatures. However, based on the information below I feel confident that raising aquarium temperature to 27C/80.6F can shorten the Ich fallow period to 6 weeks. Also, two studies now suggest that raising temp to 30C/86F can shorten the fallow period to just 2 weeks! I am confident that nitrifying bacteria can survive 30C, but not so confident about corals & inverts. 🙁 So, raising tank temp to 30C might be a strategy best used in a FOWLR system.

 

 

CAVEAT: You must still eliminate any hypoxic/anaerobic regions in your tank whilst going fallow. If a protomont crawls into a hypoxic environment before encysting, it may go dormant and all bets are off! This is probably the "real reason" behind most fallow failures. More information on Why a fallow period will sometimes fail can be found here: https://humble.fish/community/index.php?threads/fallow-periods-going-fishless.32/#post-1120

[Tamberav]

I used to have a soft coral tank that ran about 85/86 every summer without issue.

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

12 hours ago, Humblefish said:

First off, I must thank [USER=81]@victoly[/USER] for bringing this recent study to my attention: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0044848617317544

 

It has now been peer-reviewed and the findings verified by other scientists. I'd also like to share a couple of other related studies (below):

 

https://www.jstor.org/stable/3284114?seq=1

 

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2761.1979.tb00146.x

 

These studies verify what we have all long suspected: Lower temperature slows down Ich's lifecycle, whereas higher temperature speeds it up! Of course, we must still keep in mind that different strains of Ich might react differently to various temperatures. However, based on the information below I feel confident that raising aquarium temperature to 27C/80.6F can shorten the Ich fallow period to 6 weeks. Also, two studies now suggest that raising temp to 30C/86F can shorten the fallow period to just 2 weeks! I am confident that nitrifying bacteria can survive 30C, but not so confident about corals & inverts. 🙁 So, raising tank temp to 30C might be a strategy best used in a FOWLR system.

 

 

CAVEAT: You must still eliminate any hypoxic/anaerobic regions in your tank whilst going fallow. If a protomont crawls into a hypoxic environment before encysting, it may go dormant and all bets are off! This is probably the "real reason" behind most fallow failures. More information on Why a fallow period will sometimes fail can be found here: https://humble.fish/community/index.php?threads/fallow-periods-going-fishless.32/#post-1120

Thanks for this update. 😊👍

[spazizz]

Looking at this chart it seems three weeks is good for fallow period if kept at common reef temperatures since most of the studies on the chart show the tomont stage is roughly two weeks. The whole 72 day “strain” shouldnt even be considered or mentioned any more IMO, since if I remember correctly the study was done at 68f temperature with antibiotics.(I can’t find the study/source online).

[mcarroll]

On 8/22/2020 at 5:05 AM, Tamberav said:

I used to have a soft coral tank that ran about 85/86 every summer without issue.

 

 

My reef under halides never saw a minute under 81ºF.

 

Friends that would go diving in (eg) Palau would report 86ºF on reefs there on the regular.  Even low 90'sºF happen in warmer tropical reefs.

[mcarroll]

On 8/21/2020 at 5:04 PM, Humblefish said:

First off, I must thank [USER=81]@victoly[/USER] for bringing this recent study to my attention: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0044848617317544

Finally read the abstract.  I had the wrong idea about the article from the nano-reef post.

 

It is NOT about the fallow period.

 

It IS about defeating Crypto. without chemicals.  

 

Very smart!!

 

Anyone else catch this?

 

I wish the whole article was available so we knew more about the method they mention in the abstract.