How do I clean a tank after all fish dieing from Ick?

Question

My mom's fish tank is now empty because of ick, she bought a fish from petsmart that was sick I guess and now they all got the spots and died :(...So it is my job to fix her tank

How should I clean it so it is safe for new fish?

Answer 1

scrub everything down thoroughly, do not use soap as that is bad for fish.  A good replacement for soap is salt so you can scrup it with salt and water.  Scrup all the decor as well.  I would probably buy new gravel as that is not expensive and to clean it perfectly would be quite tedious.  Clean the filter as well, just clean clean clean.  That's the best way to make sure everything is safe for use again.  This includes the heater and thermometer and everything that makes contact with the fish and aquarium.

Answer 2

llrifel and john b are right. Ich is the easiest paraite to get rid of in a tropical tank. Turn the temp to 85 and add salt. I would put in a little more than the 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons, by adding an extra tablespoon to every 20 gallons. Next time you get a tropical fish with ich, you can do this to treat the tank, with the fish in it. This works better than any medication I have ever used in my 30 years of fish keeping.

Answer 3

ok first off do not tear the tank down and do not do as monkey said and bleach it

ick is a parisite the simple way to kill ick is to raise the tank temp up to 85 deg's the reasion I say do not tear it down is because we don't want to interfear with the cycle if the tank is cycled all ready we don't want to mess that up if the tank hasn't been cycled yet then me want to get it to complete the cycle  we can do this by adding fish food to the tank a few times a week with no fish in it the water will get cloudy and then clear up you will need to test the water for ammonia during the cycle phase the ammonia will climb when the cycle is done it will drop to zero

have a hearter in the tank so that the water temp is above 85 and any ick in the tank will be killed leave it at 85 when adding new fish will prevent them from getting ick or infecting the tank with ick

ick is a very common parisite the attacks stressed fish but we don't bleach a tank to get rid of it that is going way over board

Answer 4

make sure you drain all the water that the fish with ick were in,

once you put new water theres not much more to do.

at the petsmart i work at we sale lots of different chemicals that will help to rid your water of ick but it seems too late to do that now since all your fish have died. If you wqnt to make sure that your water will be ick free go to petsmart, or any fish store and ask for some chemicals to get rid of ick

Answer 5

Empty it out, clean it with a mild bleach solution, let it sun dry for a few days and put it back together.  You will have to start your cycling all over again and then slowly add new fish.

**

Answer 6

....Have a Heart, buy a Heater1....heheheh, some one mispelled 'heater'.....

....yeah, rais ethe tank temp to 82F to 85F...that will spedd up the life cycle of the parasitic spores

....add 1 tablespoon of salt per 5 gallons too

....during the 'visible stage' of the 4 stages of "Ich's" life cycle

the disease can be killed (opps, i mean 'treated') and salt will 'treat it well'.....plus the raised temps will complete the cycling in about a week of steady temp at 82F or so

....during that week, change water 2 or 3 times at 30% to 40%, each time...and add dechlorinated warm tap water, tepid.....that way the water temps always stay above 80F

.....during the water changes it is a god idea to vaccum the gravel well.....thusly removing spores.....in fact if you just vaccum out the water from the bottom using a 5-gallon bucket, that is the best way to make 'Ich treatment' water changes.....just always vaccum good

.....if you do not have a vaccum (syphon) then here is another way to clean it

....since no fish are in it....scoop out the gravel, into a 5-gallon bucket and rinse well, several times with tap water, pouring off the water several times in between and refilling repeating till you feel like the gravelis good and clean

....meanwhile, leave the tank filter running with water at 82F-85F with a heater in the tank to maintain the temp

....the gravel could be dried out on the sidewalk, on top of some cardboard box, laid out flat, or newspaper...in the sun

.....or added back to the tank and prepared to replant the tank after the 6 to 7 day 'Ich treatment' cycle of high temps and salt

....either way, the Ich cycle is broken by the temps and cleaned up, by water changes and rinsing the gravel free of the spores

...alll the while the tank filter runs, change the filter media cartridge, as it may have caught the spores too

(....if you opt to use medication to cure ich, remove the filter cartridge that contains the black stuf, activated charcoal, which will interfere by absorbing the medicine)

...the bacteia in the filter can survive the treatment if they stay wet....otherwise the tank will need to recycle for 2 to 3 three weeks

.....prevention of Ich is best, by keeping tropical tanks at 78F

....also, by choosing pet stores where you watch the tank health before making your purchases....you may notice periods of ICH or or types of disease like fungus, or bacterial symptoms....perhgaps even septicemia....to be avoided at all costs

....once the fish is brought home, a good idea is to quarantine the fish for a week, in a seperate container....hmmmm, that requires an extra tank, yes? with a filter....and cycling time to avoid ammonia poisoning...

....best bet always is to choose the pet store carefully

....then keep the water clean by routine water changes 25% to 30% every 7 to 15 days....dpending on tank load

.....also just my personal opinion, living plants are needed to absorb ammonia and nitrAtes....also releasing CO2 that nourishes aerobic bacteia in the filter that eat ammonia and nitrites....

.....anaerobic bacteria colonies that form slower are the ones that eat Nitrates

....but, tank water changes must be done to keep up the removal of ammonia, nitrites and nitrAtes