Help!!!

[melisw13]

Okay, here is my issue:
I received a larger tank from a friend of mine a few weeks ago. It's a 2.5 gallon. I bought 2 guppies for it from a local pet store, but they ended up with fungus. They had cottony white patches on them and died a few days later. I was treating them for the fungus, but they ended up dying anyways. I also had a few live plants in the tank with the fungus fish.

Well, now, I want to move my Betta, Vegas, from his tiny one gallon to the new (clean) 2.5 gallon, but I want to put the live plants in. I'm SO VERY worried that the plants and some of the decor got contaminated. I REALLY don't want to infect Vegas, but he really needs a bigger tank.

How do I make SURE that EVERYTHING is clean enough for my betta? The gravel, the plants, the decor, everything? I'm getting a new air stone and new filtration for him. He is my only betta, and want to make sure he stays happy and healthy!

Thanks everyone!!

[TheJadeBetta]

What type of plants and decor do you have?

Rinse the gravel with hot water. Usually hot water does the trick. And rinsing the tank with water and bleach or water and vinegar does the trick, also.

[melisw13]

I have a small ceramic flower pot for hiding, and the plants, I have a potted sword of some kind (I think), dwarf Sagittaria plants, and some other small forground plant. LOL I also have a stone in the tank....

[TheJadeBetta]

Do you have pictures of the plants? The flower pot is what I would be worried about. The stone you can rinse in hot water.

[beta novice]

rinse everything out make sure this tank has a heater and filter

[melisw13]

Okay..here are the 3 types of plants I have...I have no clue what kind they are! The first one is potted...

[melisw13]

Originally Posted by beta novice

rinse everything out make sure this tank has a heater and filter

Just rinse it all out?? That will be enough to get rid of any fungus?? This one (and the one my betta is currently in) has a heater and a filter...

[1fish2fish]

Since you had fish that died in the tank I would completely break down the tank. Rinse the tank with bleach and dip the plants in a bleach solution (5%). Rinse all your caves, etc in a bleach or vinegar solution as well. Make sure you thoroughly rinse everything after bleaching it.

For the gravel I would rinse it very well with a vinegar solution and maybe even bake it to be really sure you got all the fungus out.

Once you've disinfected everything I suggest you cycle the tank. There really isn't any point in having a filter if you aren't going to cycle and if you don't cycle you need to do 100% changes on that tank weekly. Since your fish already has a tank you can leave him in that while you cycle the other tank.

*Just a side note.. guppies really shouldn't be kept in anything smaller than a cycled 5 gallon, they also need to be in groups.

[melisw13]

Thanks. I always try to cycle the tanks first, and am planning on doing that this time around. I'll try the bleach/vinegar thing and also bake the gravel and pot. I just really hope that Vegas doesn't get sick! I'll be so heartbroken!!