QT cleanup? What to do?

[shadylady23]

Excuse me if I posted this in the wrong catagory. I recently got some new swordtails and platys in QT as they were new fish and was nervous about adding them to my large tank. Luckily I did not, as by the next day I noticed ich. Started treating immediately. Ich gone. Swordtails jumped out, one platy died. Down to one platy and he kept getting weird fungus or something. The ph was extremely low (6.0), and once I finally figured out how to keep it up, combined with fungal treatment he finally is better! (knock on wood, it's been a week) I added him to the main tank where he seems so happy!
But here's my question, what do I do with the QT tank? I want to keep the BB in there but fear if I don't clean it a special way with bleach or something it will kill the next set of newbies I put in QT. So far I've just kept it running and have done nothing but continued adding food.

Any insight would be great! Sorry for the long story, but I'm so happy that he pulled through!

 

[Retired_AF]

If you use bleach you will kill the bacteria, period. Leaving the tank warm without any fish in the tank will cause the ich to die after a few days since they wont have a host to feed on. You may also want to dose it with aquarium salt unless what you plan to get cannot tolerate salt. I would leave the lights off to prevent algae growth. Partial water changes are probably unnecessary but wouldn't hurt. Of course, that changes when you put something into the tank.

You said you are still adding food. How much and how often? Are you cleaning it out periodically? I would think that food, since it is not being eaten, would rot and that could cause you other problems. Also, before putting anything into the QT, check your water parameters just as you would for your show tank (just as a precaution).