Cleaning a sick tank

[TheresaM]

I'll try to keep this somewhat short. I ordered 6 chile rasboras, all but 1 were DOA. Survivor's identity is still a mystery, kept it in a 5g until I could figure out what to do with it. Was doing well then I noticed it had ick. Treated with heat, salt, and extra aeration and again seemed ok but died today

The tank has a short layer of gravel and a tiny piece of driftwood with java moss attached. What do I need to do to make this tank healthy again?

 

[icydeath]

Rinse everything with a 1-10 ratio of bleach to water then let it dry and rinse everything off with tap water.

 

[Eggheadfish]

I read somewhere that maintaining temp at 89 degrees or higher kills ich. It stops reproducing at 86f so you could run it at that temp for the life cycle of ich...not an expert please double check me

 

[DeeLee2013]

I removed all decor from my tank, then poured 100*F saltwater in and scrubbed the glass (with gloves on) and let the substrate sit. I let the decor dry after a dip into the hot saltwater, too.

My tank hasn't had any issues (knock on wood). I did rinse out with warm freshwater several times to remove as much of the salinity as possible before restocking it.

Good luck!


? Diana Lee ?
? the St. Augustine Redhead ?

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36g Rescape in Progress!
10g Orchid Endler's N-Class
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[PerfectDepth]

Wait a sec.. are there any fish in there at all? The ich parasite will die off on its own without a host. If there are no fish in the tank, just let it sit empty for a week and you should be fine. The duration of the ich life-cycle depends on the temperature, however. Just turn up the heat to speed it along. It should only take a few days, but give it a week just to be sure.

 

[Mebbid]

Almost all pathogens that infect fish are constantly present in the tank. (minus parasites) They usually only infect a fish when there is a stressor to weaken that fishes immune system. In regards to most illness they can be prevented by clean water. no ammonia, nitrites, and 10 or less nitrates.

Treatment for ich is 86 degrees. You can leave the temperature there for 2 weeks after the last sign of ich disappears. After that the tank should be ich free.

 

[TheresaM]

Thanks for all the info! I took out the substrate and boiled it. Cleaned the actual tank with the bleach/water solution. Rinsed that bunches of times. Now it's just cooking at 86. I have no plans for the tank right now and I'd rather wait than put something in there and have problems.

 

[icydeath]

I read somewhere that maintaining temp at 89 degrees or higher kills ich. It stops reproducing at 86f so you could run it at that temp for the life cycle of ich...not an expert please double check me

Egghead is right on that.