transitioning from cichlid to general tank

[JennMc]

Hi, we have a 75 gallon aquarium set up. For the past few years, it was a cichlid tank, but we had some sort of illness and now the tank is empty. We have decided to just transition to a more general community aquarium, but we have cichlid sand and the pH is 8.8 (tested with a API master test kit). I don't really want to have to empty the tank to start fresh but even as I write this I'm guessing I'm going to have to since we aren't sure what happened to the cichlids (I was away, they just started disappearing). I am looking for suggestions as to the best way to switch the tank over.

 

[absolutangel04]

Personally, I would drain the tank and let it stand empty for a bit to kill of anything living in it in addition to cleaning it well. You can pull out the filter media to keep alive so you don't have to start from scratch with a cycle, or you can scrap the whole thing and do a new cycle once you are set back up. Up to you. Make sure not to use any cleaning agent that you can't get back out of the tank. Like, don't use dish soap on your rocks or sand.