Stained ornaments

[Guest]

I had to treat my tank for ich and the malachite green and the medication stained all of my roman ruins blueish green. Is there any way to get rid of this? Thanks.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I have not found any way to get rid of the blueish tints associated with meds. Maybe bleach? BUT, you must clean the ornament VERY VERY VERY well before putting it back in the tnak.

 

[Jchillin]

When I had the same problem with stains on my rocks, I took one piece out a time during weekly PWC's and cleaned them off with warm water and a toothbrush.

 

[An t-iasg]

You could try a weak bleach solution. Scrub the decorations with the solution and see if that takes care of the staining. If you have to soak the ruins in the bleach water, rinse, rinse, rinse, and soak in water with a lot of dechlorinator. When they don't smell like bleach anymore, they should be ok.

 

[Guest]

Just a quick update - the bleach idea worked perfectly. I didn't even have to scrub them, just let them sit in the bleach solution for about 30 minutes. After that I dishwashed them all twice and rinsed them off. I am going to keep them out of the tank until I am done with the ich treatment and the tank is clear again. Sound good?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Did you use soap? If so, you may not want to put them back in your tank again until they are treated. The soap will leave a film on the ornaments even though it's not visible to you.

 

[Guest]

What do you mean treated? Is there something I can so beyond rinsing them off after the dishwasher that would make them safer to put back? I should be done treating the tank for ich on Friday, and I figured I would put them back in on Sunday.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Nothing that is ever washed with soap should come in contact with the tank. If I were you, and I may be too cautious, but I would soak the stuff in bleach again. Then, scrub on the stuff with clean water. Soak again, scrub again, and soak again. BUT, again, I may be too cautious. Soap getting into a tank is BAD news.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

When I say "soak again" I mean in clean water, no bleach added.

 

[An t-iasg]

I agree with Fishyfanatic. The soap left in the dishwasher (even if you didn't run the ruins through with soap) would be enough to be a concern, IMO. I would bleach again and soak again like Fishyfanatic said. For the last soak, I would put the ruins in clean, plain water, with a triple dose of dechlorinator added. Hope this helps!

 

[DARK Jak]

ive found boiling it should help

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I was going to suggest boiling but was unsure what the ruins were made of. I know that sounds weird but I have seen them made of plastic, rubber, and ceramic.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the advice, I will clean them again as suggested!

 

[Toirtis]

I am guessing that the 'ruins' are probably resin or cermaic, so soaking overnight in a hot water/bleach soloution may help, but chances are that most of the stain will never come out.

 

[fearlessfisch]

I had the exact same thing happen to my Roman ruins from Petsmart. i added Rid-Ich and they turned green-blue. I washed them to no avail and then just threw up my hands and put them back in the tank, thinking I'd maybe just redecorate eventually. The color went away all by itself and they are completely back to normal now.

 

[Mazdaman]

note: NEVER WASH ANYTHING TO GO IN A TANK, IN A DISHWASHER OR WITH SOAP.
I've always cleaned anything new with hot water for 20minutes or so. then soak in a bucket of dechlor. water. and finally they soak in a bucket of removed tank water from a pwc. once they are in the tank, the only thing they get cleaned with is removed tank water from the pwc.

 

[Guest]

I had the exact same thing happen to my Roman ruins from Petsmart. i added Rid-Ich and they turned green-blue. I washed them to no avail and then just threw up my hands and put them back in the tank, thinking I'd maybe just redecorate eventually. The color went away all by itself and they are completely back to normal now.

Those are the exact ones I am talking about. I thought they were made of ceramic, but after the heat of the dishwasher softened them up, its clear they are made of plastic. Still they look 1000% better now after the bleach dip. Thanks to eveyone who suggested that.