How long should I wait?

[Kenzie]

Hello everyone!

So, for once I decided to give petsmart fish a try in my aquarium. Inside I had a few platyfish and neon tetras already there that I've had for awhile. however to my surprise, the guppies from petsmart immediately died the 4 hours I was at work on the same day. I tested my water and everything was alright, so I just assumed it was a bad batch of fish and returned them. however to my horror, a few days had passed and all my fish were contaminated with fungus. Despite my best efforts for treatment and medication, none of the fish survived. I'm looking into the future to replace them after some angered calls to the petstore, but I don't wanna risk any other fish getting sick. The tank is empty now, so how long should I wait for any bacteria/ parasite to die? thanks

 

[Aiken Drum]

I would completely start over.

Anything you want to save that will fit in a pot, sterilise through boiling. Anything that is too big to fit in a pot (eg the tank) or would melt through boiling process (eg plastic decorations), scrub with diluted bleach (make sure its pure bleech, 9 parts water 1 part bleech) and then rinse with dechlorinator and then again thoroughly with plain water. If you dont want to use bleech, then use anti fungal medication, but this might not be as effective.

 

[Enchantress]

I would completely start over.

Anything you want to save that will fit in a pot, sterilise through boiling. Anything that is too big to fit in a pot (eg the tank) or would melt through boiling process (eg plastic decorations), scrub with diluted bleach (make sure its pure bleech, 9 parts water 1 part bleech) and then rinse with dechlorinator and then again thoroughly with plain water. If you dont want to use bleech, then use anti fungal medication, but this might not be as effective.

Are you sure that such drastic measures are necessary? This kind of thorough cleaning is usually reserved for highly contagious parasitoses and stuff like that...Bacteria and fungal spores are present in most aquariums and don't typically cause problems unless the fishes' immune system is weakened due to stress, transportation or bad water quality.

Might be a good idea to get a quarantine tank for new fish, and some broad-spectrum meds just in case. Proper acclimation is also key. What exactly are your water parametes and what test are you using?

 

[Kenzie]

Are you sure that such drastic measures are necessary? This kind of thorough cleaning is usually reserved for highly contagious parasitoses and stuff like that...Bacteria and fungal spores are present in most aquariums and don't typically cause problems unless the fishes' immune system is weakened due to stress, transportation or bad water quality.

Might be a good idea to get a quarantine tank for new fish, and some broad-spectrum meds just in case. Proper acclimation is also key. What exactly are your water parametes and what test are you using?

I use the API master freshwater test kit, so PH, ammonia, Nitrate/ite, ect. I'm not 100% sure if it was fungus, but that's what it appeared to be. It may have also been cotton fin, but it killed them in less than a day and spread to both tanks the guppies were in so I assume it was something contagious, as my other 2 fish tanks were fine and unaffected. I defiantly am gonna get a seperate tank from now on, my LFS isolates them before going on sale so it was my mistake to think that everything would be fine from petsmart :/

 

[Kenzie]

I would completely start over.

Anything you want to save that will fit in a pot, sterilise through boiling. Anything that is too big to fit in a pot (eg the tank) or would melt through boiling process (eg plastic decorations), scrub with diluted bleach (make sure its pure bleech, 9 parts water 1 part bleech) and then rinse with dechlorinator and then again thoroughly with plain water. If you dont want to use bleech, then use anti fungal medication, but this might not be as effective.

I'm defiantly gonna clean everything and restart the tank. But do you know if it's possible to do so without completely killing my cycle? Is it alright to leave the filter or should I clean/restart it as well?

 

[Aiken Drum]

Are you sure that such drastic measures are necessary? This kind of thorough cleaning is usually reserved for highly contagious parasitoses and stuff like that...Bacteria and fungal spores are present in most aquariums and don't typically cause problems unless the fishes' immune system is weakened due to stress, transportation or bad water quality.

Might be a good idea to get a quarantine tank for new fish, and some broad-spectrum meds just in case. Proper acclimation is also key. What exactly are your water parametes and what test are you using?

Whatever it was, it killed everything in just a few days. I would say thats the definition of highly contagious. I personally wouldnt risk leaving that in the tank.

 

[Aiken Drum]

I'm defiantly gonna clean everything and restart the tank. But do you know if it's possible to do so without completely killing my cycle? Is it alright to leave the filter or should I clean/restart it as well?

If you are planning on getting a QT why wouldn't you disinfect the filter and restart the cycle? You could fishless cycle the main tank while your new fish are in quarantine. You mention you have other tanks, so seeding your new cycle with a little media from these should speed up the process no end.

I found this youtube video on how to disinfect with bleach (just realised i spelt bleach wrong before).

https://youtu.be/tUZyxeYTAug