Sterilizing tank with plants after columnaris

[Niki]

Sorry to hear about your fishies :-(

Good luck cleaning up!

 

[Mumma.of.two]

What, you mean they leave you alone? How did you manage that? lol
I've always got at least one hanging off me, especially if it involves their fishy friends.

Lol. Dora! They think it's wonderful when I put their DVD on lol.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Mixed w h2o for.sure. but strong I would say is best. U are disinfectin a killed off tank. U just want to salvage the equipment. Sounds to me like plants are done for... It sucks for sure... Sry again Mumma...

Thanks. I've just finished the dip for the plants. Use potassium permanganate bit stronger than I should have and a bit longer than recommended. Not sure if they'll pull through.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Sorry to hear about your fishies :-(

Good luck cleaning up!

Thanks!

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Ok this is what I've done so far.
Dipped the plants and wood in potassium permanganate for 15 minutes. They are in a tub of dechlorinated water now.
Soaked all the buckets, nets, jugs, cups, gravel vacs and filter housing in the potassium permanganate for 15-20 mins. Rinced them off and they are drying in my laundry (it's raining so I can't out them in the sun).
Filled the tank with 1:19 bleach:water solution. Returned the filter and have it running. The heater and the sand are still in there. I stirred the sand up to get the bleach into it.
I'm going to let the tank run with the bleach for 24 hours then take it outside to sit in the sun (hopefully the rains gone). I'm going to put the sand on black plastic and let it dry in the sun.
Sound good? Am I missing anything?

 

[joejeff]

Laying sand out sounds good... I would be most weary of it bc it seems it could really hold stuff in. U confident the plants are ok as far as being contaminated. Nvr dealt w this... But, What I am reading says they usually have to be discarded.... I know its costly, but I would think it through bc u don't Wana do.this all over again...I would let wood dry out n sun if rain clears, unless u are trying to save plants attached... But again I am nervous for u bc of the plants chance of.carrying this stuff...

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Laying sand out sounds good... I would be most weary of it bc it seems it could really hold stuff in. U confident the plants are ok as far as being contaminated. Nvr dealt w this... But, What I am reading says they usually have to be discarded.... I know its costly, but I would think it through bc u don't Wana do.this all over again...I would let wood dry out n sun if rain clears, unless u are trying to save plants attached... But again I am nervous for u bc of the plants chance of.carrying this stuff...

Fairly confident about the plants. Might dip them a second time in a few days. I can easily take the java fern and anubia of the wood to sit it out in the sun. I'm more worried about the sand than anything. Its not even 2 months old (first time i ever bought fancy black sand too!) so I'm hesitant to throw it out.

 

[joejeff]

I would imagine bleach will kill anything.... An extra dip in proxide wouldn't hit the plants. Or the pp... If they make it through the first... Thoughts on what to restore w after this... Time.to look to the light at end of tunnel....

 

[joejeff]

Restock is what I meant

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Restock is what I meant

I've got two bettas living in 2.5gal tanks at the moment so probably one of them will get a new home Might give the harlequins another go, them or embers. Embers are harder to find though.

 

[cheeky_monkey]

Perhaps a few rinses on the sand before drying it would help?

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Perhaps a few rinses on the sand before drying it would help?

Yeah, I'm going to rinse the heck out of it then bake it the sun.

 

[joejeff]

Ur 2.5 beta tank easy to keep stable? Trying to decide if I can get away w that for desk... U have a quarantine tank set up? If not get a Styrofoam cooler and put a cycle filter and small heater on it. Makes a cheap qt. I have started keeping an extra submersible filter in my tank to use as q/t filter...

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Ur 2.5 beta tank easy to keep stable? Trying to decide if I can get away w that for desk... U have a quarantine tank set up? If not get a Styrofoam cooler and put a cycle filter and small heater on it. Makes a cheap qt. I have started keeping an extra submersible filter in my tank to use as q/t filter...

The 2.5s not too bad. I've only had these two set up for 2-3 weeks with media from the canister on my 70g (bought two bettas on a whim). Before that I had one for 6 months, well planted. It had one Betta and I changed 50% of the water each week. It was stable but he suffered from fin rot. Not too sure if I would choose a 2.5 again. Think a 5g would have been better.
I have a 5gal storage box I use as a qt. The Betta that died was in it. Not too sure what he died of though. could have been columnaris he was in the tank with the harlequins briefly.

 

[joejeff]

So bigger if I get me a beta. Alright thanks mam. Hope u get ur tank straight soon

 

[LyndaB]

I'm a little late to the party, but wanted to mention that when my tank had columnaris, I culled the symptomatic fish, did a 50% water change, scrubbed the interior walls with a scrungie and refilled, dosing with Prime and a half dose of aquarium salt. The tank fully recovered and I didn't lose any more fish or plants.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

I'm a little late to the party, but wanted to mention that when my tank had columnaris, I culled the symptomatic fish, did a 50% water change, scrubbed the interior walls with a scrungie and refilled, dosing with Prime and a half dose of aquarium salt. The tank fully recovered and I didn't lose any more fish or plants.

Thank you LyndaB! I'm sorry for your losses but that's a story I wanted to here. I did cull the last two fish and they were only in the tank not even 24 hours. That makes me feel alot more positive.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

I've just emptied and filled the tank with fresh water and 5x prime dose two times. It's running now without anything except the sand. I'm out of prime and I'm going away for a long weekend so it's going to stay like that till Tuesday. The plants are in a tub full of water. They are looking a bit worse for wear but hopefully they are going to pull through. It's still raining here so I think baking it all in the sun isn't going to happen.

 

[Retired_AF]

It seems the theories on treatment vary widely and often conflict with each other.

IMO - Most likely, if you use the boiling water on the sand and dose it with salt during the process, you should be ok as long as you rinse it thoroughly before putting it back in the tank. I cant say about the wood or plants, but that should take care of the sand.

Hopefully, what you have already done will take care of the plants. I hate the idea of throwing them out but I cant argue against it because I just dont know. Personally, I would be reluctant to get rid of them.

I'm sorry for your losses. Here's hoping things turn out well.

 

[Retired_AF]

The betta that passed, was that your orange one? I certainly hope not...