Cleaning after sickness.

[Aski247]

Like the topic says. How long after I syphon the water out vacuum the gravel thoroughly and let the tank cycle again should I wait to add fish again? Are these the only steps I need to do?

I have not felt with ick and a fish death in probably more then 10 years. Usually back then I'd let the tank dry out for a week clean everything in hot water then start over. It might be my years catching up to me but I don't wanna do all that extra work if I don't need to.

 

[HUKIT]

I recently broke down 2 tanks for this reason,

I used a mixture of 20:1 bleach directly into the tank with the filters running for 24hrs(be careful of longer times since it will break down sponges).

I went the extra step to break them down completely with through rinsing and leaving the tanks to dry in the sun for a couple of days. If this was my larger tank I'd have skipped this step since it's a bear to move.

Then lastly I did some large back to back water changes tripling the dechlorinator dosage to ensure no bleach residue, along with running some carbon in the filters.

There are currently fish back in these tanks without fear of illness or toxic poisoning.

 

[Aski247]

Thanks buddy, you always give good ideas and know how to put a mind at ease.

There was actually a Ton of "white flakie" ick residue floating around and sitting on the substrate. I'm thinking I'll just drain dry let sit for a few weeks and switch to sand.

A couple a girlfriends said they are going to buy me a elong for my birthday. I am ordering some Trimacs from Rapps for the 125 for my birthday. So I need this 55 for a grow, out or a sump.