[GoofBoy]

Best I can figure a nasty internal parasite came in the house a while back with some Ps. nicolsi.

I treated them multiple times with Metro and Praziquantel - added to food and in the water ended up with a single male who never quite filled out had a very hard time keeping on weight but grew and was spunky, but he was never 'right' if you know what I mean :-?.

Well months later I put him in with my thriving Hap. "Ruby' Greens and well - massive death ensued.

Lesson learned

.

Lack of appetite, white poo, death, rinse and repeat. Typhiod Larry died in the carnage. Tried metro and Praziquantel again - to no avail.

Anyway, the tank is empty on the back deck getting a new 'sand' texture background and I want to make sure whatever it was doesn't survive the re-setup.

I've read bleach - 1 to 20 or so and just run the filter with the tank full over-night.

Wouldn't ammonia at a very high level do the same thing? Bonus you wouldn't have to worry about dechlorinating anything.

Oh, and if anyone has any treatment ideas I would love to hear, if it ever happens again where I get fish that just can't put on weight even though they eat.

Do you keep feeding them medicated food for longer than prescribed?

Thanks.

 

[xxbenjamminxx]

How about Vinegar? Not as lethal as bleach would be but should still work. Heard of some who use it lower PH in planted tanks with no problems.

 

[GTZ]

Nothing wrong with using bleach, just rinse everything out, or if you want to run the filter with water in the tank, add a double dose of dechlorinator (bleach is chlorine after all) and you'll be fine. If you're still worried, let everything dry.

 

[DJRansome]

When this question comes up on various fish forums from time-to-time it always seems to come back to bleach.

Sorry for your loss, I know you were enjoying the Vics.

 

[triscuit]

How about Vinegar? Not as lethal as bleach would be but should still work. Heard of some who use it lower PH in planted tanks with no problems.

Vinegar is diluted acetic acid, a weak organic acid. It can kill some alkaline loving organisms, but isn't considered an effective sanitizer. It will help remove the hard water stains, though. Ammonia is lethal to fish, and is more difficult to neutralize than bleach.

Since your tank is empty, the easiest, cheapest and safest option is bleach. You can simply dilute some household bleach (not scented, no surfactants, just generic bleach) in a spray bottle- 20% concentration will be plenty. Spray down the sides and bottom of the glass. If you are reusing the substrate or filter media, clean off as much of the gunk as possible, then soak in 5% bleach. Rinse, soak with clean water and dechlorinator, and then rinse again. Add dechlorinator when refilling the tank.

 

[xxbenjamminxx]

Vinegar is diluted acetic acid, a weak organic acid. It can kill some alkaline loving organisms, but isn't considered an effective sanitizer. It will help remove the hard water stains, though. Ammonia is lethal to fish, and is more difficult to neutralize than bleach.

Since your tank is empty, the easiest, cheapest and safest option is bleach. You can simply dilute some household bleach (not scented, no surfactants, just generic bleach) in a spray bottle- 20% concentration will be plenty. Spray down the sides and bottom of the glass. If you are reusing the substrate or filter media, clean off as much of the gunk as possible, then soak in 5% bleach. Rinse, soak with clean water and dechlorinator, and then rinse again. Add dechlorinator when refilling the tank.

Thank you for the info, good stuff to know in case the need should ever arise for me.

 

[GoofBoy]

When this question comes up on various fish forums from time-to-time it always seems to come back to bleach.

Sorry for your loss, I know you were enjoying the Vics.

Thanks, I will be getting the Hap. 'Ruby' again for the start over...

?

Also, thanks for the bleach feedback...I am putting a coat of beige Rust-Oleum behind my new 'texured sand finish' background tonight and will do the bleaching/cleaning of everything at that point and start a cycle.