Disinfecting the tank??

[bunnigirl]

I'm pretty new to Bettas - right now Sashimi is in a 1 gallon tank, we'll probably upgrade to a 2.5 gallon in a few months. I change his water once a week, sometimes twice if it looks cloudy. I do a 100% water change since the tank is small - when we get the 2.5 gallon tank I'll start doing 50% changes. My question is, the water gets cloudy and this white looking stuff looks like it is growing on the top level of water and also on his little castle thing he hides in. When I change the water it has an icky smell. I've been just rinsing out the rocks/castle and tank sides with hot water and using a sponge scrubber to get off the slick feeling stuff. But can I disinfect the tank/castle/rocks with something before I put the new water in? What should I use? I saw someone on TV use salt as a natural disinfectant, but not sure if this is safe for a freshwater fish (obviously they rinsed it really well before they filled it up again, but still). Anyone got suggestions or pointers? Otherwise, does it sound like I'm doing everything right so far?
Thanks!

[Kim]

I don't think that you really need to disinfect the tank or decorations. A better way to fix the problem is to not let the water get scummy by doing more frequent water changes. Think of it this way, if the water smells to you, think of what it must feel/ smell like to your fish :( ! I'm glad that you are thinking about upgrading to a 2.5 gallon though :D . Your fish will thank you.

[JMeenen]

The cloudy stuff is bacteria overgrowth..the tank is cycling.

[ErinBBC]

It could also be some funky type of algae, I had a white stringy algae growing in my tank for awhile. I did more frequent water changes and scrubbed off the tank decorations often and that did the trick. Also if it is algae and it gets really out of hand, you can buy stuff to put in the tank that kills the algae.

[SST]

Originally Posted by ErinBBC

Also if it is algae and it gets really out of hand, you can buy stuff to put in the tank that kills the algae.

I'd advise against this as well. More frequent water changes is all you need. Looks like one time a week isn't enough. Is this happening when you change your water twice a week? It may be that you need to change your water every 2-3 days instead.

Good for you for ugrading your tank size. Mine went from a 2.5 gal to a 5 gal to a 10 gal. He's happy! :)