The Puffer Forum

My recent incident of saltwater ich has got me thinking.
I have some tools such as powerheads,hoses,and nets that I use for cleaning and water changing. I do not have a different set for each tank, so I was thinking that disease or micro organism transmission between tanks could be quite the reality.

Obviously certain things I can sterilize with boiling water, but the powerheads and tubes I cannot. Are there any solutions I can mix up that will clean things but are fish safe as well?

There are chemicals on the market for this purpose. Or, you could use vinegar.

In regards to ich (or whitespot as we refer to it over here), keep in mind that any temperatures greater than 89.5F will kill it, so I just put my tools and equipment in VERY hot water. If it's something smaller, I let it sit in nearly boiling water, plus some salt added, as the ich parasite can't handle living in salt water.

Also something I've read -- if the parasite doesn't find a host in 24 hours, it dies. So you could just let your stuff sit for that long and it should be okay, but I'd still run some very hot water over it, just to be sure.