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ashlee18 asked in PetsFish · 1 decade ago

Will this be ok? (Once Ick contaminated tank?)?

Well I had a goldfish die from Ick over two weeks ago. I noticed the Ick on the fish, increased the temp and added salt but it was too little too late. I kept the heater at 90 degrees after I fished him out. So two weeks later I finally cleaned it out. I took out all of the plants, gravel and filter.

I put the gravel into a five gallon bucket and filled it with warm water and a splash of bleach. I then rinsed it thoroughly and put it aside to dry. I then filled the empty tank with warm water, bleach and scrubbed it down. Then set it aside to dry and wiped it down with a dry paper towel.

Finally I put it back on its stand, added water, a brand new heater and a new sponge filter. It will be a grow out tank for my angel fry. Nothing besides the actual tank was with the goldfish.

Will the tank be ok for them? They won't go into it for a week or so.

Update:

Forgot to say this earlier. I had the sponge filter in the parent tank for a month. It is just new to the grow out tank.

The bleach was a suggestion from an Angelfish breeder. I wouldn't have used it if she didn't say to do it. But since she is so wise I figured why not.

6 Answers

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  • 1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    As far as being safe from ich, yes the tank should be fine to use.

    But before you add the angel fry, I'd add some gravel from the tank where they are now and/or run the filter you plan to use on this tank on their current tank. Or add a *used* filter pad from a tank that's been free of ich to the filter of the new tank a day or so before you move the fish. This will help to get the *good* bacteria established for when you move the fry.

    Moving fish to a tank that's just been running for a week won't help to get the bacteria that are needed to remove the ammonia and nitrites that the fish will produce. It'll be a lot less stressful for the fish if you jump start the bacterial cycle now.

    ADDED Glad you're starting your sponge filter in the existing tank. Bleach is okay to use for sterilizing your tank, but with Ich, it really wasn't necessary. Without fish to serve as a host, the parasites will die in a few weeks. But I generally bleach a tank if I've had fish die for unknown reasons. At least I don't have to worry that *something* might still be in the tank that could harm the new fish. Just as long as it's rinsed really well before you put the new fish in to get all the chlorine out..

  • ?
    Lv 7
    1 decade ago

    Ok, either ditch the gravel, or save it for another tank.

    For a fry tank, bare bottom is best (my experience is Betta fry, but it is the same for any fry tank)

    As for the tank itself, give it one more rinse and let it dry in the sun. The sun will break down any chlorine residue left (which by now should be precious little).

    As for the ich? By now it's dead.

    Now we need to cycle that tank.

    1. Get some gravel from an established tank and putting it into some cheesecloth or other loose weave fabric and suspend it like a teabag in the water.

    2. Get a filter from an established tank and hang it like a teabag in the water.

    3. Get some pure ammonia and drop 5 drops per 10 gallons. Use a test kit to check ammonia levels. When you see nitrates show up and the ammonia go away, you're cycled

    4. Add fish food and let it rot. This will produce ammonia. test until ammonia goes away and you have nitrates.

    5. (quick, works, but not the best) is to buy some Safe Start or other nitrifying bacteria product and add it to the tank. This will slow down the stable, long-term cycle and risks a nasty cloudy bacteria bloom, but it is a safe way to do it and add fish quickly.

    Source(s): 26 years Freshwater Aquarium experience
  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    Yes your tank will be fine, The last of the Ick actually died off a week after your fish did. You see Ick has NO long term dormant stage and without a host(your fish) they die off in about a week a temps above 80. Bleaching the whole tank and gravel was extreme over kill but its a common thing to do for new to the hobby types. Don't feel bad about it. Here's a good site for you.http://www.badmanstropicalfish.com/forum/index.php...

    So now your on to breeding angelfish, Congrats.

    You will want that to be a bare bottom tank as you will be doing lots of cleaning and water changes every 4 days or so to get the fry to grow as fast as possible.

    All you need on that tank is a Cycled Sponge Filter or a Hang On the back filter and your good to go.

    If you don't already have a fully cycled filter ready to go, do what the above poster said and put some cycled gravel in that tank from another cycled tank and let the filter run in there for about 3 weeks at least before you put any fry into it. It will take you at least 2 months to grow the fry up to the Size they will need to be in a grow out tank larger than 10-20 gallon anyways. Here's a good site about raising angel fry before they reach your grow out tank. http://www.gcca.net/howto/hatch_substrate_spawners...

    Best of Luck to ya man.

    Edit: To the poster who keeps saying you worked at Petco, get your facts right please. This is the second question I have seen you post a wrong and miss-informed answer from. Working in the Petco fish department is nothing to boast about, they don't teach you anything useful. I'm not trying to be mean, I would just hate to see someone actually take some of your wrong advice and kill their fish.

  • 1 decade ago

    I would rinse the tank again with just plain water 2 make sure that all the bleach is gone, but after that it should be fine.

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  • 1 decade ago

    It should be perfectly safe for them. My fish started getting ick, and I simply put in medicine for it (you can buy it at most local pet stores) and it cleared it up :)

    Source(s): Had fish with Ick
  • 1 decade ago

    yeah as long as you let the filter run for awhile

    i would get some ick treatment in there just to be safe tho.

    i use to work a petsmart that stuff can be hard to kill

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