Marine Velvet Fallow period

[dragoneel]

If you’ve been unfortunate enough to have velvet wipe your whole tank, can you just cycle out your tank with freshwater for a couple days to kill any parasites in the sand? I’ve seen a lot of post recommending to soak your rocks and other tank objects in freshwater for 48hrs so why not do the same with the whole tank instead of it sitting fallow for 6 weeks plus?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

You can certainly sterilize the tank and start over and avoid the fallow period altogether. In most cases, people have a large coral collection that they need to preserve, so they go with a fallow time. You would have to ensure that EVERYTHING that had been in contact with the infected water is sterilized.

Freshwater isn't the preferred method for this, but it can work. You need to flush it twice with FW though - the fish time you add it, there is enough saltwater in the sand and rocks to make the resulting water just brackish enough to let some parasite survive. Bleach at 250 ppm is a better alternative, and then rinse really well. You could also try hydrogen peroxide and freshwater, give it a double whammy.

Jay