During & after fallow questions.....

[JayM]

Long story short, I just started fallow period for 90 gallon mixed reef. DT is currently stocked with a couple dozen corals. Mostly LPS, couple of softies and mushrooms along with 3 skunk cleaner shrimp, a tiger pistol shrimp and a couple dozen assorted snails and hermit crabs.

What's the best way to go about feeding everything adequately with no fish present?
Would now be a good time to establish pods? Not sure how many, if any survived the temporary tank breakdown. I may not have even had any to begin with, as I never have been able to spot any after lights out.

The fish I have left at the moment are 2 firefish, YWG, Foxface, Hippo tang and a Flame Hawk. Safe to add them all back to the DT at the same time after treatment and fallow are finished? Or should I do a couple at a time?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

What's the best way to go about feeding everything adequately with no fish present?

You'll want to offer some good, meaty feeds (like a high quality sinking pellet) and some algae: Nori strapped to the rocks is always good, and using that and/or some sinking algae pellets/wafers would probably work fine.

Would now be a good time to establish pods?

If you can trust the pod source to be clean and not bring in disease (the odds of it doing so are incredibly slim, but not technically zero), then yeah, this would be a great time for that.

Safe to add them all back to the DT at the same time after treatment and fallow are finished? Or should I do a couple at a time?

I'm not sure on this part, so hopefully someone will chime in with an idea here for you.

 

[JayM]

You'll want to offer some good, meaty feeds (like a high quality sinking pellet) and some algae: Nori strapped to the rocks is always good, and using that and/or some sinking algae pellets/wafers would probably work fine.

If you can trust the pod source to be clean and not bring in disease (the odds of it doing so are incredibly slim, but not technically zero), then yeah, this would be a great time for that.

I'm not sure on this part, so hopefully someone will chime in with an idea here for you.

So it essentially sounds like business as usual, but obviously cut back on the amount due to not having any fish at the moment.

 

[brandon429]

your biofilter is not set by the degree of fish in the system, fishless systems carry just as much bioload when added as fish-included systems because we all copy the same basic ratios of surface area in the display (a stack of rocks) and when underwater, those surfaces fill up with bacteria over time.

being fallow does not reduce the bacteria on surfaces in your system, so adding fish back does not short change anything, you can add them. you can even add more fish than your current setup if wanted, if they too were quarantined/observed, as nobody's reef tank runs so low on surface area some extra fish would be a breakpoint.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

So it essentially sounds like business as usual, but obviously cut back on the amount due to not having any fish at the moment.

Yeah, pretty much.

 

[JayM]

your biofilter is not set by the degree of fish in the system, fishless systems carry just as much bioload when added as fish-included systems because we all copy the same basic ratios of surface area in the display (a stack of rocks) and when underwater, those surfaces fill up with bacteria over time.

being fallow does not reduce the bacteria on surfaces in your system, so adding fish back does not short change anything, you can add them. you can even add more fish than your current setup if wanted, if they too were quarantined/observed, as nobody's reef tank runs so low on surface area some extra fish would be a breakpoint.

That's kinda what I figured, but considering the circumstances I wanted to verify. I was actually thinking about adding a fish or two to quarantine with the rest after the current group stop showing any signs of illness rather than adding what I have and starting a fresh quarantine after. I'm still on the fence whether or not that's a good idea.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I was actually thinking about adding a fish or two to quarantine with the rest after the current group stop showing any signs of illness rather than adding what I have and starting a fresh quarantine after. I'm still on the fence whether or not that's a good idea.

As long as they still go through a full, proper QT, it would be fine - just remember that those new fish could be bringing disease with them that could re-infect the current fish.

Current Quarantine Protocol

2023 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed quarantine process can effectively eliminate these parasites before...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[JayM]

As long as they still go through a full, proper QT, it would be fine - just remember that those new fish could be bringing disease with them that could re-infect the current fish.

Current Quarantine Protocol

2023 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed quarantine process can effectively eliminate these parasites before...

www.reef2reef.com

Didn't think of that. I guess that's what I get for pondering things before I finish my coffee. It seems that sooner rather than later would be best, though the DT is going to need to be fallow for quite some time still, so no need to rush the decision. I've got plenty of time to restart the QT clock.