No fish, no diseases?

[rosyrobyn]

I have a planted tank that's been a healthy community tank for over 6 years - no diseases and no additions. The fish from the tank have since passed away or been given away. So now it's just a planted tank with no fish (lots of snails however).

Are there diseases that can lay dormant for months and then reappear after new fish are introduced? Or because there's no host the tank is now disease free?

[Eddie]

How long since fish have been removed?

I don't recommend just tossing new discus in the tank. I'm a fanatic of prevention so I'd clean and sterilize everything.


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[rosyrobyn]

It's been over a month with no fish and at least 2 more months before I break down the tank, removing all to go BB. The contents of the BB tank will be moved into a larger tank that will eventually be the show tank. So 3 months empty for the BB grow out tank and I'm guessing a year before any fish are in the show tank...

All of my tanks are in the same room so I'm concerned about cross contaminating. It would be easier on my mind if I knew that there was little chance of introducing disease to new fish stock. Sterilizing everything would be a lot of work and I'm pretty sure I'd lose plants if I tried to dip them. I'd rather not do it unless necessary.

[Eddie]

There is always a very slim chance. I don't risk anything with discus. Too much invested in them.


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[rosyrobyn]

The BB tank will be easy enough to sterilize... the planted show tank not so much. And considering that tank may not have any occupants for a year, I guess I can live with 'very slim chance' - unless there's something specific that could be a problem?