Another question please help

[Mhaworth]

I lost my red tailed shark that was sick with velvet. She put up a good fight but I guess it got the best of her. I was keeping her in a 10 gallon tank with plenty of stuff to keep her happy. My question is would it be safe to take the decorations out of that tank and put it in my new 55 gallon tank? I just don't want the velvet to spread.

 

[BBradbury]

Hello M...

Small tanks are a challenge to maintain. The water quality can foul in a matter of hours and stress the fish. This will weaken the immune system, and parasites that live dormant in our tanks can infect the fish.

Good idea to go with a much larger tank. They're much easier to maintain and if there's a mistake in tank management, there's enough water to dilute the problem. Large, weekly water changes will keep the water chemistry safe for the fish and the plants.

As for the old decorations from the diseased tank, you can soak them in a bucket of treated tap water and add a couple of tablespoons of standard aquarium salt. Most, if not all fish pathogens are unable to tolerate even a trace of salt in the water. Soak the pieces for a few days and then rinse well.

Remember to keep the water in this new tank clean. Large, weekly water changes of half the tank volume will guarantee safe conditions for your fish.

B

 

[Mhaworth]

Hello M...

Small tanks are a challenge to maintain. The water quality can foul in a matter of hours and stress the fish. This will weaken the immune system, and parasites that live dormant in our tanks can infect the fish.

Good idea to go with a much larger tank. They're much easier to maintain and if there's a mistake in tank management, there's enough water to dilute the problem. Large, weekly water changes will keep the water chemistry safe for the fish and the plants.

As for the old decorations from the diseased tank, you can soak them in a bucket of treated tap water and add a couple of tablespoons of standard aquarium salt. Most, if not all fish pathogens are unable to tolerate even a trace of salt in the water. Soak the pieces for a few days and then rinse well.

Remember to keep the water in this new tank clean. Large, weekly water changes of half the tank volume will guarantee safe conditions for your fish.

B

Thanks for the the very in depth response. Just one question, when you say treated tap water do you mean tap water with some dechlorinator in it or tap with with something else entirely?

 

[Mhaworth]

could use a little more input. welcoming all answers.

 

[jlk]

Unless the décor is valuable or personally important, I would just toss it. If you absolutely must keep it, soaking it in a 10% bleach solution should kill off most bugs followed by rinsing well in hot water then soaking again in double dosed dechlorinated water. If you can dry the items in natural sunlight this will help dissipate any remaining bleach. If its something very porous, bleach is not recommended as it will soak into the item and be difficult to fully remove.

 

[BBradbury]

Hello again M...

Yes. Treated tap water simply means it already has the treatment that removes the chemicals the public water people put into the tap to make the water safe to drink. The chemicals like chlorine and chloramine, as we all know, are toxic to aquarium fish.

B