How would I go about sterlyzing my tank that my parasite-ridden puffer died in?
Am i going to need to recycle? How do i make sure it's all clean?
Sterilyzing my tanks
Forum rules
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
There are several ways of doing it, depending on how long you've been keeping fish and/or how lazy you are. Some are better than and some are easier than others.
1) Break down the tank, empty all the water, boil everything that won't get destroyed by it, and use a light bleach OR oxi-clean solution for those that can't get boiled.
This is what most people do when they are newer and don't want to take chances.
2) Remove removable objects, wash with bleach solution, do 100% water change, perhaps multiple, making sure gravel is clean as possible.
3) Leave it empty for several weeks/months understanding whatever parasite/bug it was can't survive without host animals.
I tend towards #2 myself, but don't always do the same thing depending on why I'm breaking/cleaning the tank.
A few things to keep in mind:
No creature on earth can survive boiling in water. Some are close, but we don't have to worry about deepsea volcanic vent bacteria here.
Bleach or Oxi-clean are a few of the recommended cleaners, and even then make sure its a LIGHT solution and rinse -extremely- well. Make sure its plain ol' bleach, no smelly stuff, no funky new chemicals for clothes. Just bleach.
Any type of soap has a chance of leaving a deadly residue, and should be avoided. If (other than oxi-clean) it makes bubbles, don't use it.
1) Break down the tank, empty all the water, boil everything that won't get destroyed by it, and use a light bleach OR oxi-clean solution for those that can't get boiled.
This is what most people do when they are newer and don't want to take chances.
2) Remove removable objects, wash with bleach solution, do 100% water change, perhaps multiple, making sure gravel is clean as possible.
3) Leave it empty for several weeks/months understanding whatever parasite/bug it was can't survive without host animals.
I tend towards #2 myself, but don't always do the same thing depending on why I'm breaking/cleaning the tank.
A few things to keep in mind:
No creature on earth can survive boiling in water. Some are close, but we don't have to worry about deepsea volcanic vent bacteria here.
Bleach or Oxi-clean are a few of the recommended cleaners, and even then make sure its a LIGHT solution and rinse -extremely- well. Make sure its plain ol' bleach, no smelly stuff, no funky new chemicals for clothes. Just bleach.
Any type of soap has a chance of leaving a deadly residue, and should be avoided. If (other than oxi-clean) it makes bubbles, don't use it.
The rare and elusive SteelGeek has been known to cause great damage to his environs...
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Feathers&Fins
- Figure 8 Puffer
- Posts: 201
- Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2005 5:42 pm
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Pufferless since Nova passed; had 2 red T.miuris, 4 T.biocellatus for many years.
- Location (country): KY (USA)
- Location: (US) Kentucky
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Jager
triple dose of formulin and sitting for a month with just a heater at 95 degrees cooks the bacteria and wipes it out without risking the bleach chlorine probs that arise without a eryh good washing and anti clorine conditioner, however it does require the tank say up and runing for a month which isnt always a spouse or family tolerate solution 
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Feathers&Fins
- Figure 8 Puffer
- Posts: 201
- Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2005 5:42 pm
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Pufferless since Nova passed; had 2 red T.miuris, 4 T.biocellatus for many years.
- Location (country): KY (USA)
- Location: (US) Kentucky