Restarting a tank - how to clean everything (including filter media)

Hi guys

I've had a problematic tank where my sponge filter turned slimy white..... since then I had regular death of my juveniles in that tank and moved the large fish out for safe measure.

I have given up on the tank, but want to know how do you start over?

What do you use to clean everything (pumps, sponges, etc) as I don't want whatever is in my tank to stay there.....

Thanks!

PB

 

Use a diluted solution of bleech. 1:10 and soak everything.

Make sure you rinse everything very well afterwards.

I wouldn't bother keeping filter medium. Just replace that.

Depending on the substrate, it might be an option to replace that too.

 

Thanks Zoom.... thought as much.... such a big dissapointment as I lost a lot of juvenile angels and basically have no clue what happened.....

 

If you have a sand substrate then you can just suck it up with a siphoning pipe,if you have gravel then you need a bigger pipe and make the entrance or the exit smaller (forgot which one it was) so you get more suction power

Good luck with your tank

 

Agree with Zoom and have done it before. Replace substrate and filter material. Do the bleach treatment and make sure that you also treat the filter and heater. I use internal filters so I chucked the filter material, plants and substrate and drained the tank. Fill the tank with the bleach solution and run the filter (without media) for at least a couple of hours. I ran it overnight. Then I drained everything and rinsed very very well. Also treat any nets used in the tank.
Then started again.

 

@Zoom: Is the bleach solution of 1:10 correct? That a heck of a lot of bleach if I'm going to run the tank with the bleach solution..... 250liter tank.....

 

Yeah, the 1:10 is what I mix into a bucket to wash everything. You would want it slightly stronger when washing by hand because the bleech is in contact less with the surface. However Irma has given a very good idea. Empty the tank, refill with water and bleech and then just run the tank overnight. What you can do is throw in all your equipement (heaters, bags, clips, nets, scissors etc) into the tank to run with the solution. I would then use 1 cup of bleech.

But again, I cannot stress how important it is to rinse properly afterwards.

 

1:10 is 10% bleach and 90% water right?

 

And add dechlorinator.

 

If you use a chlorine based bleach (most domestic bleaches are) soak everything you washed in the bleach in a container with water and your favorite fish tank dechlorinator to neutralize the bleach.

 

Yes, something like Microbe-Lift Super Dechlorinator...........a little bit goes a LONG way. Extremely cost effective stuff.