How long can velvet or brook survive in fresh water

fishywishy · Feb 1, 2023

Ive had fresh water in a bucket for a month and it might have had cross contamination with my tank that has brook or velvet in it, could they survive in fresh water for that long?

MnFish1 · Feb 1, 2023

fishywishy said:
Ive had fresh water in a bucket for a month and it might have had cross contamination with my tank that has brook or velvet in it, could they survive in fresh water for that long?

I'm not sure that there is a huge information database on this - I would say they are dead since they live in saltwater - and people use freshwater dips to get rid of them. However, Why not just clean the bucket with bleach - or drying- and call it quits? Is there a reason you're saving this water?

fishywishy · Feb 1, 2023

MnFish1 said:
I'm not sure that there is a huge information database on this - I would say they are dead since they live in saltwater - and people use freshwater dips to get rid of them. However, Why not just clean the bucket with bleach - or drying- and call it quits? Is there a reason you're saving this water?

I dried it for two days the filled it with fresh water but some people are telling me that i should clean it but i dont want to have to make new water again so im just wondering if its okay to use?

MnFish1 · Feb 1, 2023

fishywishy said:
I dried it for two days the filled it with fresh water but some people are telling me that i should clean it but i dont want to have to make new water again so im just wondering if its okay to use?

Everything should have been dead. But - why do you want to use it?

vetteguy53081 · Feb 1, 2023

fishywishy said:
Ive had fresh water in a bucket for a month and it might have had cross contamination with my tank that has brook or velvet in it, could they survive in fresh water for that long?

The life cycle of FW velvet is almost identical to that of the ich cycle which goes through typical encysted life stages which are trophont and tomont reproduction stages.
I dont believe Brook which is a Ciliate microorganism can survive in freshwater hence the often recommended FW dip to dislodge them as they have a low tolerance in FW environment

I never finish anythi · Feb 1, 2023

vetteguy53081 said:
The life cycle of FW velvet is almost identical to that of the ich cycle which goes through typical encysted life stages which are trophont and tomont reproduction stages.
I dont believe Brook which is a Ciliate microorganism can survive in freshwater hence the often recommended FW dip to dislodge them as they have a low tolerance in FW environment

Would the 2 day dry cycle kill the velvet ?

vetteguy53081 · Feb 1, 2023

I never finish anythi said:
Would the 2 day dry cycle kill the velvet ?

Hard to say as we have had many hobbyists who took tank down due to a move with parasites which re-emerged after a week but cant say if fully dried. Its a good question as you would think drying out would stop them but again the woods dry out during a long winter and ticks come to life.

fishywishy · Feb 1, 2023

MnFish1 said:
Everything should have been dead. But - why do you want to use it?

I’m setting up a new tank and i need the bucket to make water for it but i was using it to hold RO water to top off my old tank and there might have been some contamination from my old tank to the bucket when i was topping it off. so i dried it for two days to kill anything and filled it with new water for the new tank.

Jay Hemdal · Feb 1, 2023

fishywishy said:
Ive had fresh water in a bucket for a month and it might have had cross contamination with my tank that has brook or velvet in it, could they survive in fresh water for that long?

Common wisdom is to say that Velvet, Brooklynella and Ich will all die off in FW for that length of time, but there is a caveat: rocks and sand can contain some saltwater, and filling the bucket with FW may not dilute it below 4 ppt which seems to be the lower threshold for velvet. You can measure it a hydrometer - if you read less than 1 ppt, it will be fine.

Jay

fishywishy · Feb 1, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
Common wisdom is to say that Velvet, Brooklynella and Ich will all die off in FW for that length of time, but there is a caveat: rocks and sand can contain some saltwater, and filling the bucket with FW may not dilute it below 4 ppt which seems to be the lower threshold for velvet. You can measure it a hydrometer - if you read less than 1 ppt, it will be fine.

Jay

There’s was only water in the bucket no rocks or sand, and I miscalculated a little its been more like 2-3 weeks that the water was in the bucket im i still okay?

Jay Hemdal · Feb 1, 2023

fishywishy said:
There’s was only water in the bucket no rocks or sand, and I miscalculated a little its been more like 2-3 weeks that the water was in the bucket im i still okay?

Sorry, I missed the point then...I thought you were soaking tank items in FW. If it's FW, why not just dump it?

Jay

MnFish1 · Feb 1, 2023

fishywishy said:
There’s was only water in the bucket no rocks or sand, and I miscalculated a little its been more like 2-3 weeks that the water was in the bucket im i still okay?

IMHO - a couple gallons of RODI water locally will cost at most 5-10$. Just toss the water out, wash the bucket with bleach - and rinse - use some chlorine neutralizer if you want - at 5x the normal dosage - and go from there? Unfortunately - no one can answer your situation completely - As a couple of people have said - it's 'probably' ok. But - I for one do not want to be the one who says 'its fine' - and then you have a problem - when there is a simple cost effective alternative

fishywishy · Feb 1, 2023

MnFish1 said:
IMHO - a couple gallons of RODI water locally will cost at most 5-10$. Just toss the water out, wash the bucket with bleach - and rinse - use some chlorine neutralizer if you want - at 5x the normal dosage - and go from there? Unfortunately - no one can answer your situation completely - As a couple of people have said - it's 'probably' ok. But - I for one do not want to be the one who says 'its fine' - and then you have a problem - when there is a simple cost effective alternative

I dont have bleach is there something i can use as an alternative like alcohol?

MnFish1 · Feb 1, 2023

fishywishy said:
I dont have bleach is there something i can use as an alternative like alcohol?

There are numerous sterilizing compounds you can use - if you just google 'how to sterilize an aquarium' - you will get lots of suggestions

fishywishy · Feb 1, 2023

MnFish1 said:
There are numerous sterilizing compounds you can use - if you just google 'how to sterilize an aquarium' - you will get lots of suggestions

I just want to ask just to be sure but this website says i can use rubbing alcohol is this okay to use?

MnFish1 · Feb 2, 2023

fishywishy said:
I just want to ask just to be sure but this website says i can use rubbing alcohol is this okay to use?

The usual agents used are bleach and (NOT TOGETHER) - dilute vinegar (You never want to use bleach and vinegar together. As already said - it's likely that you're already 'ok' Though your timeline now is a little shorter than originally thought. I would use one of the standard methods. IDK what strength or duration of exposure that would be needed.

fishywishy · Feb 2, 2023

MnFish1 said:
The usual agents used are bleach and (NOT TOGETHER) - dilute vinegar (You never want to use bleach and vinegar together. As already said - it's likely that you're already 'ok' Though your timeline now is a little shorter than originally thought. I would use one of the standard methods. IDK what strength or duration of exposure that would be needed.

Do i just wipe down the bucket with a paper towel soaked in vinegar?