Hello, I have been keeping fish off and on for many long years. I am now having to start over having lost all of my fish, some of them being at least 5 yrs old. I can't prove it, and the water company won't say, but I believe that by changing my water after a huge flood in my town, contaminants in the system killed half my fish. Then a day later, got freaked out, so did another 100% water change, and lost the rest of my fish. I was depressed for weeks, then broke down the tank (100 gal.)and traded it for a smaller 50 gal. tank. My husband thought I was crazy to do that, but well, I just didn't care anymore. So, I refilled the smaller tank, and went back to aquabid and got some more fish. Just a few guppys and plumetail plattys. Now I have a large amount of equipment, and decorations, and some really nice carribean sand sitting outside in buckets. Is there any way to sterilize the sand esp., but also the decorations, and sponge filters, ect. to be able to use them again? I am afraid to put the sand back into my tank in case whatever killed my fish is still in the sand and stuff. Any suggestions will be appreciated. I am boiling some small ornaments, but not sure about putting them back in use. thanks for listening, Patricia
starting over
- Thread starter chickenlady
- Start date
Boiling will do it for most of the ornaments, but be careful of air pockets inside them which could cause them to shatter. The sand can be boiled as well probably (never tried it myself). How long has your stuff been sitting out?
I concur with the above, but I would add a step. Once you have boiled things, place them in a five gal bucket and let it over flow with a hose for 15 min.-20 min. this will help get rid of any chemical residue left or broken down after boiling. You may want to set up the bucket with water, sand and some decor and add two feeder comets. That should test things
^henning is spot on. Boiling is the only thing that nukes EVERYTHING, and rinsing will rid your sand/ornaments of any left over nastiness.
Yeah, pretty much what I was thinking. I do not feel like taking any more chances. I may though, rinse it off and use it in a pool for the summer. Maybe put a feeder fish in there to see what happens.
