Cleaning SIck Tank?

[MatthewLaw]

Greetings ALl- My poor dwarf lionfish passed away tonight. The lump on his back separate shortly before he passed.

I would like to restart the tank but do not know how to clean it. I removed the heater, powerhead, filter, and cleaned the tank with clean water.

SInce this might have been a bacterial issue do you suggest a bleach to water cleaning (1 to 10 concentration)? do i need to clean the heater, powerhead, etc?

Thanks!!! -Matt

 

[strout]

Others will know the answer to your question, not me. But I am sorry to here about your fish.

 

[MatthewLaw]

thanks for your condolences. not sure what went wrong...had some bacterial thing growing and wasn't eating! oh this hobby....

 

[Lotus]

Sorry to hear about your lionfish

A 1:10 bleach:water solution should work. Or, you can use a couple of cups of white vinegar. Yes, you should clean out the powerhead and heater, to be safe. After bleaching, rinse with water and allow it all to dry thoroughly.

While drying out will kill most bacteria, it won't always kill spores from viruses (in case there was a virus involved). Bleach or vinegar should take care of it.

 

[MatthewLaw]

how do i clean the powerhead/heater? just water or also flush with the bleach water solution? THanks!!!

 

[MatthewLaw]

im just worried that the bleach/water solution might corrode the powerhead. should the powerhead be one when it is in teh solution?

also what do i do with the filter? i am using a biowheel 250. new carbon filter, i assume. get a new biowheel too?

 

[Lotus]

Yes, you'll need to throw out the media from the filter and bleach the biowheel. There's no need to throw out the biowheel, just bleach and dechlorinate it. The bleach won't cause a problem with the powerhead (or any other mechanical parts of the tank). Saltwater is probably much more corrosive than a 10% bleach solution for a few hours.

 

[MatthewLaw]

thanks for the help!