100+ degree water? Gulpers in 20

[xDestro]

Was looking at getting metronidazole and flubendazole to treat my gulpers that come in next week as that's what discus origin recommends, I want to sterilize my tank before they get here since my last ones died so I did a bit of research on bleaching and using hydrogen poroxide and saw someone say to just add a few heaters and get temp to above 100 to kill everything.. will this work? Also I have a 20L that has eco complete and a corner matten filter, it's not cycled but has been running for 2 months now, I was thinking I could do a massive 95% water change and just add media from another cycled tank behind the matten sponge and put my gulpers in there until their tank is ready, so would that be okay for 2 4" gulpers? How long would cycled media last? Would I need to add media day before they get here? Few hours? Also any info on using metronidazole and flubendazole would be healpful and maybe where to get some?

Also sorry if this isn't in the right place I was gonna sure where to put a multipart post

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

Honestly, I would call off having the gulpers come next week. If you want to be completely sure you are not going to cause the issues by not having a clean and disinfected tank, you need to use something that will kill any bacteria, virus, parasite, etc, that might still be in your tank. The best way to do this is with plain, unscented bleach because it can be neutralized with dechlorinator.

If it were me, I would empty all of the decor out of the tank and soak it for a half hour in 10% bleach water. Take out any substrate and either wash it the same way or replace it. If the tank is small enough to handle easy enough, take it outside and wash it using a sponge that you dip into 10-20% bleach water. Take all of your filter media and soak it in 10% bleach water for a half hour. Wash out the inside of the filter the same way you did the tank. Then, rinse everything well with tap water, put it all back together and start a brand new cycle with pure ammonia and wait the appropriate 6-10 weeks for the cycle to complete. Then, after all of that, get the gulpers and add them to what you know is a sterile environment. It would probably be best to treat them with a dewormer at that time and keep a close eye and have some other medications on hand to treat anything that might come up.

Or, a shortcut you could try for cleaning would be to add 10% bleach directly to the tank and let it run like that for a few hours. After that do a few large, 90+%, water changes, add a double or triple dose of dechlorinator, and then start your cycle. Either way you go, the best option is to take the time to go through a proper fishless cycle so that you can be sure you don't introduce anything at all that might make them ill or stressed.

Good luck!

 

[xDestro]

Honestly, I would call off having the gulpers come next week. If you want to be completely sure you are not going to cause the issues by not having a clean and disinfected tank, you need to use something that will kill any bacteria, virus, parasite, etc, that might still be in your tank. The best way to do this is with plain, unscented bleach because it can be neutralized with dechlorinator.

If it were me, I would empty all of the decor out of the tank and soak it for a half hour in 10% bleach water. Take out any substrate and either wash it the same way or replace it. If the tank is small enough to handle easy enough, take it outside and wash it using a sponge that you dip into 10-20% bleach water. Take all of your filter media and soak it in 10% bleach water for a half hour. Wash out the inside of the filter the same way you did the tank. Then, rinse everything well with tap water, put it all back together and start a brand new cycle with pure ammonia and wait the appropriate 6-10 weeks for the cycle to complete. Then, after all of that, get the gulpers and add them to what you know is a sterile environment. It would probably be best to treat them with a dewormer at that time and keep a close eye and have some other medications on hand to treat anything that might come up.

Or, a shortcut you could try for cleaning would be to add 10% bleach directly to the tank and let it run like that for a few hours. After that do a few large, 90+%, water changes, add a double or triple dose of dechlorinator, and then start your cycle. Either way you go, the best option is to take the time to go through a proper fishless cycle so that you can be sure you don't introduce anything at all that might make them ill or stressed.

Good luck!

Dont think I could put them in the 20 with cycled media while I sterolize the tank?

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

Dont think I could put them in the 20 with cycled media while I sterolize the tank?

If I were in your situation, I wouldn't chance it. Since you just lost your previous gulpers in a short time, something went wrong somewhere. It could have been that they brought something with them, or they could have contracted something in your tank. In order to rule out the latter completely, your best option is to just start them off in a completely clean setup. On top of that, moving them multiple times within a few months might prove to stress them out too much.

I think the best chances you have of keeping the next gulpers alive is to take the advice I mentioned above.

 

[xDestro]

Okay I'll just add a cycled sponge filter from another tank so I don't have to wait on the cycling process

 

[Drstrangelove]

Was looking at getting metronidazole and flubendazole to treat my gulpers that come in next week as that's what discus origin recommends, I want to sterilize my tank before they get here since my last ones died so I did a bit of research on bleaching and using hydrogen poroxide and saw someone say to just add a few heaters and get temp to above 100 to kill everything.. will this work?

Just 100 F water will kill 'some' things. Like ich if it's done long enough. Large numbers of bacteria and parasites will survive "just" 100 F water. We have to cook food well past 140 F to kill dangerous food borne bacteria.

Bleach is a better method if you want to sterilize.

Or much hotter water. Did they mean 100 celcius? That's 212 F. That would kill off a lot of things if you keep it at that for a little while, but I can't think of a way to get water in an aquarium to 212 F using normal heaters.

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

Okay I'll just add a cycled sponge filter from another tank so I don't have to wait on the cycling process

That defeats the purpose of sterilizing the tank because you are now adding possible contaminants from the other tank. If you want to be sure there is no other way than to wait.

 

[Winfield92]

I think that after the problems with your last gulpers you need to slow down and get a tank completely established/cycled before you introduce two more. If you think there was a problem with parasites or fungus that you have yet to resolve sterilize and start over.

 

[Warborg]

There is no fast solution to what you want. If you want to purge your tank of all bacteria. You have to spend the time to do it correctly and then wait for it to cycle. If you rush it, you could be asking for trouble.