Clean-up after ich

[dkpate]

I looked at a few threads on here and found one that said to clean up after ich, you use 30% bleach, rinse well and then dip in water treated with Prime. Is it okay to dunk the heaters, nets and bubble stone in the bleach? (I do have a new bubble stone, I would just need to rinse the hose). Thanks!

[mfdrookie516]

Do a 10:1 solution of water to bleach... Then dip in water that has alot of dechlor in it. The only downfall is that along with the ich, you are going to kill off your beneficial bacteria.

[JPKeenan]

If you get it again seems like the best advice I have had (works better than the medicine) is to raise the tank temp above 80F (say near 80, like 82) and dose with some aquarium salt. Keep the temp high for at least two weeks to a month. The ick can't live in water temp that high.

[Innovator]

Aquariums and some products can be bleached, but do not bleach nets, airstones, or heaters as bleach will corrode heaters, disintegrate nets, and depending on the brand of airstone it can both disintegrate and over-saturate airstones. There is a Net-Dip product you can purchase specifically for nets and I may have posted the product name on the board at some time so try a Search for it. If you can't find it I'll look it up

[JPKeenan]

wondering how bad boiling would be for the net as well... If you have a stock pot where you can cover most of the area that you will dip into the tank might have some merit.

[jsoong]

Originally Posted by Innovator

There is a Net-Dip product you can purchase specifically for nets and I may have posted the product name on the board at some time so try a Search for it. ...

That would be potassium permanganate. <Or various brands thereof.>

For ich, you don't really need bleach. <You can if you want, it is faster, but as others noted, it will destroy some plastic ... I tried it on filter foam & it just dissolved!>

Ich cannot survive without a host for more than a few days, so if you let everything dryout for a week or so, you should be set. Heat will also kill ich, you can prob. kill ich without boiling, pasteurizing temp of 120-150 will prob do the trick. But then, it would be just as easy to dunk it in boiling water for a few minutes.

[dkpate]

Thanks guys! Much appreciated.

[Nessie]

I really must be stupid, did not know you have to bleach everything (including filters, hoses) after ICK. EVERYTHING???? Nessie If you are on now, please answer my sick question....