cleaning an infected tank...

riddle4sphinx

AC Members
Jul 19, 2006
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16
Illinois
I recently bought 2 fantail goldfish and had them in my cycled 30 gallon fish tank. All of the readings were fine for ammonia and nitrates. About a week and a half later, it looked like one had gotten ich, so I began to treat the tank for it using Maracide. After a week, it looked like it had all gone away and I normally treat them for two weeks, but I missed a day in the middle. On what would have been the 8th day of their treatment, I looked and it had all come back. Only this time, it was more of a fuzzy-whitish color. I don't know if they had a fungus all along, but I started treating them with Maroxy and Maracyn instead to get rid of the fungus and any infection, but it only got worse. Sadly, they both died as none of the medicines seemed to help. I would like to get more fish, but I'll bet whatever killed my other fish is still in my tank. I know not to use just regular soap, but what is a good method or product to use to completely clean out a tank so that any fungus or parasite is gone? Thanks for any help!
 
A bit of bleach will kill anything, as will completely drying everything. Just rinse rinse rinse, till you no longer smell the bleach. And use your dechlor. liberally.

FYI: for the next ich episode, treat with the salt/heat method! I have yet to hear of it not working for anyone....
 
mix bleach and water to a 1:20 ratio and clean clean, and rinse like hell, and then dechlorinate everything to neutralize what ever little bleach may be left.

(you may or may not be able to get the gravel free of bleach though...)
 
i'm guessing the antibiotics killed your nitrifying bacteria. that's why i don't like using chemicals of any sort in my tank. the salt and heat treatment would have been a lot better.

yeah, bleach is fine. i use it (diluted with water of course) on my ornaments all the time if they start to get a lot algae on them. then i rinse well with tap water. the dechlorinator in the tank water will neutralize any extra bleach (it is a chlorine compound). you can add a little more if you're concerned about any stray bleach.
 
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