Sterolizing a tank from parasites and recycling it after

Lee belk

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Hi I am wanting to sterolize my tank after a lot of fish loss I have rock sand and pumps in it still im wanting to use bleach and I am finding it hard to get in uk I don't mind using a product from the US but if someone could help me out and point me in the right direction for a product in the uk to buy I would more then appreciate the help demestos original has sodium hypochlorite in it but I'm not too sure about any other harmful additives been in it would this also be safe on the silicone and plastic pumps since I'm clueless
 

Aboynamedsous2

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Hi I am wanting to sterolize my tank after a lot of fish loss I have rock sand and pumps in it still im wanting to use bleach and I am finding it hard to get in uk I don't mind using a product from the US but if someone could help me out and point me in the right direction for a product in the uk to buy I would more then appreciate the help demestos original has sodium hypochlorite in it but I'm not too sure about any other harmful additives been in it would this also be safe on the silicone and plastic pumps since I'm clueless
Honestly when ever I buy a fish tank I’m setting up I use vinegar and water that would work on the tanks and equipment at least. It would kill off bacteria well without all the harsh chemicals. As for sand and rock I’m not sure though....
 

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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I wouldnt do that heres why: the same process they use to control maladies in non sterilized tanks is still the best science we have. it does no good to sterilize now and then add/import frags and rocks and substrate that just vector the pestilence right back in. what you'd do is pull all fish, fallow this system as is, put back qt fish

if you proceed with this plan, you trade off initially feeling good about the clean tank for dinos, and how you handle fallow and qt in the new system still determines your ability to keep fish. no need for sterilization here, we add right back in mighty unsterilized items. in your current plan, only the biofilter and all microscopic supports will be killed, and those will help you in the post fallow tank.


The disease forum does not list this plan in its stickies for a reason.
 

BostonReefer300

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You can't buy bleach in the UK??? I don't know about that. In any case, household bleach is fine to use on silicone and anything other equipment. Just dilute it 1:10 with tap water first (even 1:100 dilution will work fine in most cases) and don't soak things for too long. Make sure to rinse thoroughly with tap water afterwards.
 

Aboynamedsous2

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I wouldnt do that heres why: the same process they use to control maladies in non sterilized tanks is still the best science we have. it does no good to sterilize now and then add/import frags and rocks and substrate that just vector the pestilence right back in. what you'd do is pull all fish, fallow this system as is, put back qt fish

if you proceed with this plan, you trade off initially feeling good about the clean tank for dinos, and how you handle fallow and qt in the new system still determines your ability to keep fish. no need for sterilization here, we add right back in mighty unsterilized items. in your current plan, only the biofilter and all microscopic supports will be killed, and those will help you in the post fallow tank.


The disease forum does not list this plan in its stickies for a reason.
I never thought of that. I almost always buy my tanks second hand and was told to clean it with vinegar. Works for me but I would take my info with a grain of salt.
 

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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Lee the basic summary is this, people want to be at your stage. Fallow/ from the fish disease forum starts after folks have cycled, added some corals and a clean up crew, it’s just a fishless time.

old rules said 80 days. New rules say 45, it’s bc having no fish starves those fish dependent disease components hiding in the tank among the good stuff


since starvation is the goal if your tank was mine it’d fallow 90 days, who wants to repeat all this work right, to save redos consider the uber fallow approach lol


you still feed as normal if you have corals and inverts, it’s just fishless. When you add fish back in, they’re bought from pre quarantine sources or they’re ones you quarantined, per fish disease forum.
 
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Lee belk

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Tank has been fallow since January and I've had to qt my new fish since then I've had these fish in copper twice the first time was with cupramine and salfert test kit the ick come back after removing the copper so I got some copper power and used a hanna test kit this time im half way through it and its back again so I cranked it up to 2.5 from 2.10 and restarted the clock for 30 days again im thinking I've cross contaminated both times with having to top ro water up and doing water changes even tho I do them on separate days im paranoid that the main tank will still have ich in it and would rather sterolize it while its still ticking over and dechlor it then recycle it im not bothered about how established it is we do have bleach but its not sodium hypochlorite at 5.25 percent and the bleach that is has perfume in it
 

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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nice preps, its true bleaching would be 100% counterproductive at this point you are nearing end of journey

that doesnt mean its perfect, losses can still happen but its the best the fish disease forum has to offer and not any place on the web other than there actively handles public fish disease as well, live time for % success assessment after the first few pages.
 
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Lee belk

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Do you think I'm best leaving the tank as it is then I have a lot of vermetid snails and stars I would enjoy to see gone lol
 

brandon429

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Regarding vermetids, I cannot locate any threads where say five reefs were cured of them all in one thread. There’s only a handful of single cures, I bet they’re here to stay. Stars, not worth the removal hassle can use a predator for them, nice reason to buy a harlequin shrimp then youll be buying more stars to feed him when those are gone
 

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