I would clean anything the sick fishes came in contact with, even if water dropped into a tank. I would move all your stock, sick and healthy fishes (separately) to bare bottom tanks as that is the best way. Medications I used did not do well in tanks with gravel/sand, decorations, etc.
How to sterilize aquarium equipment from bacterial disease
- Thread starter AquaticAustin
- Start date
if the fish survive they will have developed anti bodies from the infection...the only fear is that they may infect the tank they are introduced into.. often best to keep the fish in hospital tank for a few weeks..over time the bacteria won't be a real issue.
you can use either Chlorine(bleach) or H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) to clean the surfaces of the tank and decor.. these will of course kill any beneficial bacteria you have as well as the not so beneficial bacteria..or pathogens. either of these will work. and both have short shelf life when exposed. but can be easily rinsed off
You can bleach everything except wood. You need to boil that in water. If the wood is too large to fit in a pot run it through the dishwasher without soap.
Bleach everything, liberally.. Then rinse in water and then soak in reg tap water with dechlor. Use 10 drops per gallon minimum. Regular Dechlor brand dechlor will neutralize bleach.
Bleach everything, liberally.. Then rinse in water and then soak in reg tap water with dechlor. Use 10 drops per gallon minimum. Regular Dechlor brand dechlor will neutralize bleach.
Thank you all very much for the replies! Star_Rider THANK YOU for bringing up the point of antibodies idk how I didnt think about that before... my primary concern was this re-occuring in my 75gal tank and as of today there were no more deaths (started medication last night) and if they survive its good to know they are going to be more resistant to it. I will be boiling the wood in the QT tank since its small and I will bleach everything else except my biggest tank since moving the fish out will stress them and only complicate further (last time I moved one of my fish he got fungus from the stress) so hopefully by the treatment this thing is fixed...
So I filled my 10 gallon QT tank up w/ 9/10 gallons water and 1/10 gallon bleach for a 1:10 bleach solution. I have my net, heater and some acessories soaking in it and my question is to sterilize my filter should I just run my filter w/ this bleach solution? that should clean the insides really well right?
whew good! lol cause its already happening 
. Its been about 30 mins how long should I do it for?
Got rid of the gravel in the QT tank, how can I clean the plants? I boiled the wood that was in there for like 20 mins at a really high boil, I took it out 10 mins ago and its still steaming!
. Its been about 30 mins how long should I do it for?Got rid of the gravel in the QT tank, how can I clean the plants? I boiled the wood that was in there for like 20 mins at a really high boil, I took it out 10 mins ago and its still steaming!
I am actually taking this opportunity to bleach clean all my decorations that I have obtained with various tank deals that are used... will be nice to know they are clean!
So after my 1:10 bleach soak and running it through my filters for approx 2 hours I drained it (using a gravel pump that was used in contaminated waters so as to clean that too) and filled up with tap water, double dechlorinated it, drained it, filled it again and tripple dechlored it. Am now leaving it over night to run through filters and soak. What else do I need to do before filling this up for real use?
