how long to leave a tank fallow
 

I have a 187 gallon aquarium.
It has been up and running for a little over 4 months.
About a month ago I came home from work and proceeded to head down and feed my fish.
When I got downstairs my water was all cloudy and when I lifted the canopy all the pellet food from my auto feeder was floating ontop of the water or in the water column.
I grabbed a filter sock at skimmed the top of the water with it and did a 20 gallon water change.
My fish were all at the top of the water breathing rapidly.
I transferred all the fish (5 in total) to my 33 gallon cycled QT tank and continued to do 20 gallon water changes every other day.
I purchased a UV sterilizer as well and that cleared the water up within 2 days.
While in QT all fish developed ich the next day from being transferred from the main tank.
I tried to get the fish to begin eating again before I medicated but it was too late. I lost my last fish 1 week ago today.
The water in my main tank is all bad to normal.

How long should I wait to add fish back into the main tank. I am sure ich is in the main tank and don't want to rush.
I have read, on reefcentral, to let the tank go fallow for a of 8 weeks.
I wanted to buy a 1 or 2 fish this week and put them into QT.
Its hard staring at an empty tank when I initially waited 2 months to add fish!

Guess I am just venting.

Let me know what you experts did if you have went through this before.

Thanks for looking!

Ya it sucks and ive been there but its better to wait it out and do what you can to keep the ich out while you have the chance

Yup, wait the 8 weeks min. If you want to get couple fish and QT them that long, have at it, but don't lose patience and put them in early.

Thanks for the responses!

I know that's the right answer..... Just needed a kick in the ars!

Just wanted to agree with the above 8 week minimum. If you have a quarantine system available, you could probably buy a few fish for your Q system in 2 or 3 weeks but don't rush putting them in the display.

Sorry about your loss.

Appreciate it.

Thanks for the help

Your QT tank probably has ick unless you used medication.

I am assuming that it does.

I have drained and dried the tank.

Making up some new water for it and starting over.

Everyone has their own opinion on how long to let a tank go fallow. Personally, I went 10 weeks fallow.

I went 8 weeks and was good on re-introduction. A lot of people recommend 10 just to be safe, I mean you already waited 6 right ... whats two more to make sure.

I had one fish in my tank though, a longnose hawkfish that I just couldn't catch, and disassembly wasn't an option. He never showed even the slightest sign, and must have been immune ... because when I started adding fish 8 weeks later everything was good.

This was about 8 months ago ... the tank is restocked and doing well.