Trying to avoid breakdown after Brook outbreak

[Jolleyreefs]

So I just had a pair of clownfish and trio of PJs die from brook in a friends tank I manage. Not exactly sure how this outbreak occurred, tanks been running 7+ years and clowns were spawning on a regular basis. Only thing I can think of was the addition of reeflux to eliminate some bryopsis, and possibly a nutrient spike from die off could have stressed something. Anyhow, the problem I have going forward is its a large reef 100+ gallons and i would really prefer not to break all the corals as they have encrusted multiple rocks etc. There are still 4 uncatchables in the tank, a couple wrasse, a dottyback, an engineer goby. At the moment they all seem fine, no symptoms, eating well, active. Can I wait 12+ weeks and then add another pair of clowns or is the only realistic option going through the fallow period? If I need to wait longer to reintroduce clownfish I have no problem with that, I'd just really prefer not having to break everything down to remove the fish doing well and treating them.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Common wisdom is that fallow periods won't work if there are ANY fish in the tank. I've found that they still do help, but may not completely eliminate the chance for diseases returning. 12 weeks should be fine, longer than the normal fallow periods. That would give you plenty of time to properly quarantine the new fish, as THAT is where the true risk lies.

Depending on the timeline, etc. it might have been the Bryopsis die-off taking up oxygen that took out the fish.

Jay

 

[Jolleyreefs]

Common wisdom is that fallow periods won't work if there are ANY fish in the tank. I've found that they still do help, but may not completely eliminate the chance for diseases returning. 12 weeks should be fine, longer than the normal fallow periods. That would give you plenty of time to properly quarantine the new fish, as THAT is where the true risk lies.

Depending on the timeline, etc. it might have been the Bryopsis die-off taking up oxygen that took out the fish.

Jay

Thanks for the response Jay. The Reeflux was added the 28th of December and infected fish detected the 6th. So about 9 days post treatment. Not sure that's enough time for the bryopsis die off to impact the water quality on 100 gallons or not. I Feel like it has taken longer in the past to really kill off bryopsis. Anyhow I am likely going to be waiting 12 weeks at the minimum before adding anything else and its good to know that the future risk will be on the added fish.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks for the response Jay. The Reeflux was added the 28th of December and infected fish detected the 6th. So about 9 days post treatment. Not sure that's enough time for the bryopsis die off to impact the water quality on 100 gallons or not. I Feel like it has taken longer in the past to really kill off bryopsis. Anyhow I am likely going to be waiting 12 weeks at the minimum before adding anything else and its good to know that the future risk will be on the added fish.

The timing just doesn't seem right to me, but hard to say. 12 weeks is certainly prudent.

Jay