Sad day... : (

[RoxieStClaire]

So my fish... up and died, and I can't figure out why, but if I ever get another fish I DEFINITELY don't want that one to catch whatever he had. So that means everything I plan on using again has to be disinfected, but I don't know how to do that safely, or if I have to disinfect some things differently than other things.

Here's what I plan on saving for reuse:

A glass bowl
An acrylic tank
A heater
Some plastic decorations
Some silk plants
A net
A thermometer

Any advice is appreciated. I just don't want a new fish to avoid whatever disease he had only to die from bleach poisoning or something.

[toad]

Hi dear, sorry to hear about your buddy :(

All of the things you listed can be cleaned with vinegar and hot water. I know a lot of people use bleach, but it makes me nervous so I try to avoid it.

[DeviCy]

Vinegar makes a great cleaner I'm so hesitant about bleach as well and as long as you clean it thoroughly with vinegar and then thoroughly with clean water it works great. Also add some declorinator to the water when you rinse it the final time just to be sure.

[RoxieStClaire]

Ok, good. I was planning on using vinegar, but I just wanted to make sure that was the right move. I'm wary of using bleach, too. Its just too easy to accidentally poison things if its not rinsed out enough.

[Mahachai]

Sorry to know about your betta, atleast its in betta heaven where it can swim as far as the I can see. I bleach my tank or bowl. It gets fishy when the scent of bleach is still there so I fill it with water and stir in some carbon for a few hours to eliminate the smell and any remainings from the bleach.