Now what?

[PaulO]

A couple of weeks ago I realized I had an outbreak of Ich and Velvet in my 10 gallon (stocked with pet smart mollies...never again) and while I was medicating one by one they all swam on their way to the rainbow bridge, the last one dies last night she was a real fighter. I've been looking around to see what I have to do to sterilize the tank and here is what I got so far.:

Let the tank run for a good week or so at 85*F to kill any remaining ich.
Rinse out gravel, tank , decor etc.
Throw out all media from filter and buy new.

If anyone who has done this before I would really appreciate any advice, I have a few questions and hopefully I can get these answered.

1.What should I rinse the gravel in? vinegar, bleach, rubbing alchohol in a pure or diluted form.
2.How long should I give the tank to run with water (5-? days, empty of fish of course)
3. Is there any risk I could get a recurrence or better phrased how long should I compensate to make sure any parasites/diseases run their life cycle and die of lack of host/nutrient?

Thanks
-Paul

[aemaki09]

If you clean with bleach or vinegar, then you shouldnt have to leave the tank running at all. Just rinse rinse and rinse again. 10-1 ratio.

Someone might have better advice

[PaulO]

So 10 parts water to 1 part bleach/vinegar to be sure? Also I was thinking of running the tank for a week because I was battling Ich & Velvet in my tank and I never cured my fish hence the empty tank. I read that running the tank for a week at 85*F will speed up the life cycle of the parasites and cause them to die off faster due to lack of host, will this be long enough? I am mortified of the thought of some parasites going dormant and having an outbreak as soon as I set up the tank again.

[aemaki09]

I'm not sure about running it. I know 85 is a good temp but not sure on how long is right to kill it

And yes, 1 part bleach to 10 parts water. You would also be safe doing 1:20 (1:10 is hospital grade, 1:20 is home grade disinfection standards.)

But I am 99% positive that if you use bleach to clean anything you plan to re-use it will kill the ich and velvet so you don't technically need to run it. Just let the solution sit in there for about 10 minutes while you scrub. Bleach has the ability to kill aids and hepatitis if used right so im sure ich is no match for it.Also you can let your tank air dry in sunlight for a few days after the bleach and that will also get rid of any remaining bleach and parasites.

[PaulO]

Wow I didn't know bleach is that powerful, I will still let the tank run just because I wont be able to clean the tank until at least Friday but I think I will do the 1:20 bleach solution. Also does it matter how long I let it sin in the sun? The only concern I have is not rinsing the tank enough and having bleach dry in my tank but knowing myself I will probably rinse the tank a hundred times and then once more to be safe, anyway thanks for the help!

[shellieca]

My understanding is that if there is no host (fish) the ich will die off & I believe the same is true for velvet so there would be no need to sterilize or throw anything out. If it were me, I'd double check on the velvet aspect, but I wouldn't want to lose my cycle by starting over with new filter media if I didn't have to. I would run the tank empty for a couple of weeks at 86-88F, blacked out, dosing with ammonia to keep the BB fed.

[aokashi]

just hot water will kill off parasites.

[PaulO]

The cycle was already destroyed, I first noticed the velvet on my mollies about early October, most of my mollies were treated with salt for 1 1/2 weeks but after no changes I moved to antibiotics. I began treatment with maracide (1 week dose) and after the velvet getting a little worse I decided I had no choice but to go heavy duty. I had done water changes and fresh carbon for about 5 days to get rid of the Maracide and then began Tri-Sulfa. At this point I only had the last molly (mickey) left. During the "cleaning days" the ich appeared as one little rough grain of salt about 1-2 mm and the spread all over. When I started Tri Sulfa the velvet went away but the itch refused. I had a 10 day treatment of tri-sulfa, I suspect it would have been best to give the fish a break from the raised temperature and meds so she could calm down and breathe easier but I continued on and on the 11th day in the morning I was about to do a water change when I saw her lying on the gravel. The cycle I suspect was dead long ago as these meds probably interfered with the growth of the bb and they died off. Also aokashi, by hot water do you mean in the warm to parasite range 82-90 or like scalding hot? Anyway thanks for the help guys, I'll probably write this all down so I don't have to open another topic in the future.

[aokashi]

Scalding hot :) I usually turn the tap water on the highest then give it a good scrub. Then let it dry and sit for a week and you should be good.

Parasite range hot is 86F+
82 will simply speed up the infestation
86 will speed it up the life cycle to a point where it's simply too fast for the parasites to reproduce.