Sterilize tank after parasite/fungus outbreak?

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wodesorel

Registered Member
Nov 9, 2004
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I'm really not sure what to do at this point. I've had three female bettas for about six months, in a ten gallon planted tank.

But I've been battling with some sort of outbreak that looks like it might be parasites and fungus combined. I went through a treatment of Ick med, then fungus med, and then a parasite med. I followed the directions, and didn't mix the medications. I know I probably stressed the fish out, but it was quite obvious they were dying, and none of the treatments did anything to cure them, they just kept getting worse. It started with what looked like ick, progressed to a white fungus, and then to parasitic related behaviour and open sores, and just recently it looks like tail rot. Plus, the one that did survive is so pale that I can see dark spots that look like bruises on her body. I've lost two of the fish, one a month ago and one today. The last one doesn't look like she's going to live much longer. I'm currently using Aquarium Pharmaceuticals General Cure (Parasites), and Triple Sulfa (Bacteria).

After I lost the first fish, I tore the tank apart and washed everything in scalding water, including the plants, decorations, and gravel. I also did a 100% water change and changed the three-part filter. Starting from scratch seemed to help. The fish seemed to be doing a lot better for about a week, but then the symptoms returned.

My problem is that I have live plants, a snail, and two ghost shrimp that have been with me since day one. They've managed to survive every medicine I put in the tank, even though they stated that they kill crustaceans and invertibrates. I'm rather attached to them.

I'd like to try having fish again, but I don't want whatever killed my current fish to infect any new ones. I would do a 100% water change and soak everything in boiling water, but I don't know if this would be enough to get rid of whatever is the problem. Also, would the shrimps, snail, and plants transmit said problem into a clean tank?

I'm really clueless as to how to procede. Any advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated!!
 
sounds like internal parasites, fungus and bacterial infections as well as outer ones.

if you're nervous, you should tear down the tank and along with boiling everything in water, put in a nice bulky amount of salt (tablesalt would be better, it kills off a lot more) then rinse to get rid of the salt. whatever pathogens killed your fish may be on/in your shrimp and plants too. since i have no idea what really happened, i would quarantine the last betta in a separate tank, and leave the shrimp/plants in the 10g. if the betta dies, but a few weeks later the rest of your tank is healthy looking, i would try putting more fish in again...
 
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The problem with tearing a tank down is that you kill off all your beneficial bacteria (and the rounds of medications have likely been unkind to them as well). Without the beneficial bacteria, the ammonia and nitrite levels can poison the fish, increasing their odds of getting an ailments.

If you feel you must tear apart the tank, find some Bio-Spira and use it. If you can't--well, parasites require a host, so will die without a fish host present (very few will host in the snail or shrimp). Clean water--meaning a cycled tank with regular maintenance--is the best defense for future fish--and tearing it apart and killing the bacteria won't promote clean water.

the dougie--Why do you say tablesalt kills more? Compared to what? Salt is very likely to kill the snail, though the shrimp will probably be just fine.
 
hmm hard to put into words...

well if both aquarium and tablesalt are equally effective, im curious why everyone wouldnt simply use tablesalt... it would be an effective help to cure against plenty of harmful organisms in your tank, and you wouldnt need to go buy it. but people still go to buy and use aquarium salt. tablesalt from what i heard would kill anything in the tank. obviously, that means it would be a more effective killer...right? of course i could be wrong...
 
Nope--most people who don't use table salt base their decision on the myth the iodine in table salt is lethal. Complete falsehood, but an entrenched myth nonetheless. Salt is effective against some crustaceans and bacteria based on their sensitivity to NaCl and the impacts NaCl has on osmoregulation, nothing else. In sufficient concentration, either will be effective lethal to all FW organisms. Without a content analyzation of Aquarium Salt, it's hard to say what else it does contain, or how much you'd need to obtain the same salinity from a given volume of table salt, but it does have the same NaCl as table salt. The difference in cost is a matter of marketing--ie, this is 'special' not because it's different, but because it's in a box that's targeting a hobby.
 
Healthy adult fish, kept at an appropriate temp can usually go for 10-15 days without food. At lower temps, they can go longer. Coldwater fish are in a different category entirely---many can go months without food. Juveniles typically will be okay for 5 days, fry maybe 2-3 days. Of course, there's a lot of variation depending on the species, this is very general.
 
I keep ghost shrimp in a 5 gallon tank, with about 2.5 gallons of water in it. There's a small powerhead with a sponge, and huge ball of java moss. I feed the tank maybe once or twice a week, and have gone up to 2 weeks without feeding them. No losses. The tank is well lit, and I know there's a healthy population of infusoria in there for them to consume, as well.
 
will scalding hot water kill things like ich and fungus? I just ask because I use a python to do waterchanges, and it never compleatly dries out inside.... so inbetween my tank i'm treating and my healthy tank, I have just been running VERY hot water through the python into the bathtub... I assum that this is enough to kill all the bad stuff? If not, I'm not sure what else to do...
 
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