The Puffer Forum

I have a question...I recently lost all my fish to whitespot (I set up a new tank, cycled it, left it cycling for a week bought some Tetras from the LFS and one of them obviously had whitespot. I followed all the instructions for treating it but unfortunately was unsuccessful) and now have an empty tank which I am going to use to breed snails in to feed a puffer...I need to know whether the tank will be contaminated. I have thrown all the plants away and boiled the stones and equipment and left the tank outside in the sun/rain for a week. Is there any chance the equipment etc could still be contaminated.

Ich will die off within a lifecycle if it does not find a suitable (fish) host. Depending on your temperature, this time duration could be anywhere between 6 and 30 days. Should be fine.

You do know that cycling is an ongoing process which takes up to 30 days, and that if you run a tank without any livestock your beneficial bacteria will die off, right?

Not huge, but if Shermy's got anything to do with it, just to save you fretting, get an unwaxed lemon and some marine salt, cut the lemon in half and dip it in the salt, scrub every inch inside and out, and then rinse like your life depends on it.
The salt and lemon should knack everything without leaving toxic residues on the glass.
Good luck!
Pami.

Oooh..simultaneous post...ooohh...you can't speak till I say your name!!!!!!
Aaahhh, a second childhood is a wonderful thing.
Pami.

As Bred stated, all you need to do is keep the tank empthy for a while. Two weeks should do it. A little longer if you want. If all you are doing is putting snails in there, its not like they are going to get ich. However, since you have been treating with who knows what kind of medication, make sure you do a couple water changes and maybe run some fresh carbon to get rid of any medication. (If the med. had Formalin or copper , your snails cant handle that.)

Excellent point on the meds, mandycat - I hadn't considered that.

Thanks so much guys. You've all be very helpful...


With cycling I used the quick cycle and then put some plants etc in the tank and let it airate for a week and then I put the fish in and continued to use the cycle as instructed on the bottle. Is that correct?

I will wash all the equipment with lemon and salt as you sugested and make sure its out of water drying off property for a couple of days.

DJuzz is going to help me set up Shermys tank and we will transport half the water thats in the tank so that he only gets a 50% water change so the bacteria etc will all still be there.

It's the filter media, gravel and - to a lesser extent, plants, ornaments - that carry the bugs...not the water. Forget most of the water and make sure you carry the above mentioned equipment in some tank water...very quickly, and transfer them as fast as you can and get the tank filled with new water.
Be sharp, though, plan out the move, so the bugs are not left without food for long...make sure they're always submerged in old tank water so they've got some food.
Pami.

If you can save 1/2 the water, that is still good, as a 100% water change, can be shocking to a fish.