How do you freshwater fish-friendly sanitize aquarium items?
by Aquaboy on Saturday, March 27th, 2010 | 8 Comments
I have a sick fish and want to make sure everything is cleaned before I put it back in the tank (Statue, plastic plant, gravel).
What should I do/use to completely clean this stuff and keep it fish-friendly so I don’t use something that will kill my fish when I put it back in the tank?
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Boiling works pretty good. It’s what I do. I’ve heard that bleach is okay, but then again I’m never 100% sure that I can get the stuff completley rinsed off. The high heat of boiling will kill off anything that could hurt your fish without chemicals.
avoid soap. try cleaining it in hott water and scrubbing it with a hard brush. only use the brush on fish items though. you can also put a little aquarium salt in the tank it helps get rid of clorine and things that might get on the aquarium stuff and into the water.
i just use very hot water and a tooth brush.
heat kills bacteria
do not use cleaners just water or your fish will probably die or become sick trust me but there are medicines4 fish that work like rid ick or stress coat
If you currently have a sick fish the last thing you want to be doing it cleaning your tank out and starti over. This will really stress the already sick fish and probably kill it within a day or two. Heal your fish and the tank will be fine as well.
If the fish has already dies, you don’t need to clean out the tank as extremely as you think. Simply do a big water change, vacuum the gravel and wipe off the decor. Clean out the filter as normal and allow the tank to run a few days. Most all fish diseases will die in a few days with no fish host. If you go over 2-3 days with no fish, add a pinch or two of fish food to the tank to keep the bacteria cycle going.
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Really hot water (at or near boiling) and about 2 oz of “ultra” bleach per gallon of water, or 3 oz of regular bleach. Rinse well, 3 times or more. Obviously the fish can’t survive this.
soak everything in vinegar. Do not use bleach, soap, etc. These will leave trace elements behind that may still kill you fish.
I normally (because I am paranoid) soak everything in vinegar for a few hours. I normally add a little bit of water,….probably a 80% vinegar and 20% water, to help cut down on the smell (i live in an apartment), and then let everything soak for up to 24 hours. Then just rinse everything off (using non-chorlinated is great, such as bottled distilled water, but not nessecary) just make sure you rinse REALLY well.
that should kill just about anything and everything.
There are a few things you can do, however, if you have fish in your tank, this is not the best course of action. If you are treating your fish, you are treating your tank. It is better to let things go. Removing the decorations and plants (Plastic) is ok however do not drain your tank.
Now you will have to start the cycling process over.
If you feel like you need to clean the decorations, you can use a few things like salt mixed with water to scrub off the algae safely and rinse well. You can also use Hydg. Peroxide to sterilize the decorations. NO Peroxide will not hurt your fish. it is actually used as an emergency aireation whenthe power goes out.
If need be, scrape the sides of your tank and vac the gravel.
What were your fish sick from? If they had ich, you’ve treated the tank already. Ich is in the water. Washing everything and putting it all back is not going to rid the tank of this parasite. Understand that ich even though present in the water, DOES NOT attack healthy fish.
If you need more info on ich or cleaning your tank, feel free to email me.