Sanitation of "instruments"

[jessibell]

A thought occured to me while typinf questions about the fungus or ich or whatever my fish have right now (see UNHEALTHY FISH forum

I was wondering if anyone sanitizes their nets and siphons and things? Maybe this id a dumb questions, but it makes sense, doesn't it? I've been dipping my net into three different tanks in the past few days. When I worked at the pet store (although I never worked in the fish department) they used to keep the nets in a solution of something - maybe weak bleach and water??? I'm not sure.

Just throwing the question out there. Naive nerbie!

 

[jessibell]

sorry for my bad typing, it gets worse after midnight!

 

[dkpate]

You don't have dumb questions!
I think most people on here use a 10/1 bleach solution, just make sure you rinse really well after the bleach dip.

 

[mfdrookie516]

as she said, a 10:1 bleach solution is good, followed by a soak in a container full of water and 5x dechlor. you can also boil things, just make sure they wont melt

 

[7Enigma]

My recommendation when treating for things such as Ich, parasites, bad algae/bacteria, is hydrogen peroxide. While bleach will work and many people use it, I like knowing that peroxide won't hurt the fish/filter even if a bit is left on the equipment. The only problem with peroxide is it needs to be FRESH (so does bleach but it's much cheaper).

I've heard of people using containers of Flourish Excel as an alternative to bleach (as Excel in high concentrations is NASTY stuff) but would still recommend peroxide for all sanitizing purposes.

 

[jsoong]

Bleach certainly will work to disinfect, but it is a pain to bleach/rinse/dry/air-out every time you use a net or something. <Plus bleach will weaken fabrics, so prob not that great for nets.>

Lfs use potassium permanganate. You don't have to worry about rinsing as small amount in a tank is OK. This is also the favorite disinfectant for ponds as it is fairly cheap & you need a gazillion gallons of disinfectant to clean a pond .....

For the typical home hobbyist, you prob don't need to disinfect your tools if all your tanks are healthy. But you should keep a separate set of tools just for the QT or hospital tank so you don't contaminate your healthy tank with a sick/new fish.