Latte
Active Member
Hey all, I'm purchasing a 2nd hand setup that I want to turn into a FOWLR for a few puffers etc. It comes with filter media, rock, and sand and has been running for ~2 years. After dealing with some nasties in my reef, I really value that biome and would be keen to keep the bacteria and good stuff but I want to make sure it's free of parasites such as Ich, which I assume it has probably had some of at some point. I've considered a few options and am not sure which one would be the best.
Option 1: 76 Days Fallow
Concerns here are that I'd have to wait ages to actually get fish in the tank. Would it be possible to shorten this period? An LFS told me that you don't reeeally need to do the full 76 days usually, that's just being abundantly careful. They said usually a month is fine, and that only in one instance has ich been found to live past the 72 days. How many days is really necessary to minimise risk?
Option 2: Completely drying out the tank
Concern here is the rock and loss of biome. I'd be starting a tank right from scratch and would mean I'd likely have to deal with stuff like dinos, cyano and would have to wait to cycle the tank. But also it would probably take forever to dry out the porous rock, and I'd not even be sure how to know when the sand/rock is dried out enough to kill the ich.
Option 3: Filling the tank with RO
Same as above really, but filling with RO rather than drying it out. I might be able to save some more of the biome, but I'm not sure how much this would actually kill the ich, would some still survive? How long would it need to run like this?
Option 4: Heating the tank
I've read heating the tank to 90F or 32C will kill Ich. Can I not just keep the system running at this temp for a couple weeks and be sure the ich is gone? Would allow me to keep the biome. If it's fallow I can even pump the temperature higher, even up to around 100F or 37C. What temp would you recommend for this and how long would I need to run it for?
Option 5: Hyposalinity
I'm already planning to run the tank hypo at 1.015 as per recommendation of fish shop. Can I not just start the tank at this salinity and know the Ich won't be able to thrive in it?
Option 6: Combination of 4 and 5
Just 4 and 5.
Pretty much, I know Option 1 is best practice and probably what will be recommended. I just want to know if it's really necessary, or if I can realistically get away with another option. Would really appreciate some feedback, thanks guys.
Option 1: 76 Days Fallow
Concerns here are that I'd have to wait ages to actually get fish in the tank. Would it be possible to shorten this period? An LFS told me that you don't reeeally need to do the full 76 days usually, that's just being abundantly careful. They said usually a month is fine, and that only in one instance has ich been found to live past the 72 days. How many days is really necessary to minimise risk?
Option 2: Completely drying out the tank
Concern here is the rock and loss of biome. I'd be starting a tank right from scratch and would mean I'd likely have to deal with stuff like dinos, cyano and would have to wait to cycle the tank. But also it would probably take forever to dry out the porous rock, and I'd not even be sure how to know when the sand/rock is dried out enough to kill the ich.
Option 3: Filling the tank with RO
Same as above really, but filling with RO rather than drying it out. I might be able to save some more of the biome, but I'm not sure how much this would actually kill the ich, would some still survive? How long would it need to run like this?
Option 4: Heating the tank
I've read heating the tank to 90F or 32C will kill Ich. Can I not just keep the system running at this temp for a couple weeks and be sure the ich is gone? Would allow me to keep the biome. If it's fallow I can even pump the temperature higher, even up to around 100F or 37C. What temp would you recommend for this and how long would I need to run it for?
Option 5: Hyposalinity
I'm already planning to run the tank hypo at 1.015 as per recommendation of fish shop. Can I not just start the tank at this salinity and know the Ich won't be able to thrive in it?
Option 6: Combination of 4 and 5
Just 4 and 5.
Pretty much, I know Option 1 is best practice and probably what will be recommended. I just want to know if it's really necessary, or if I can realistically get away with another option. Would really appreciate some feedback, thanks guys.
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