Cleaning Buckets and Siphon ICH

[Vertigon_z]

So I have been in the hobby for over 15 years. Battled ICH 2 times throughout my life when I first started and cleared it succesfully. Now my fish room has expanded to about 5 tanks all large, but I have not gotten new equipment. 1 of my tanks came down with ICH. Current inhabitants (2 indo Dats, 2 scarlet plecos, marble headstander, and an albino hoplo cat.) I have treatment on hand and ready. The problem is I only have 1 gravel vac and 8 buckets. I need to do a water change using this equipment but also need to maintain water quality on the other tanks. Any tips on how to sterilize the buckets and siphon? The first two times I had ICH years ago were because of rookie mistakes I made but this time I have no clue how it came to be in my well established environment. I could easily go get another siphon but it would be an hour out of the way.

 

[Rocksor]

In the long run you need another hose (whether a gravel vacuum or standard garden hose). The other buckets are more manageable since you have quite a bit.

Letting the equipment dry completely for 2+ weeks would be enough to sterilize it for ich. You could try to kill any free swimming ich (theront) with a disinfectant like 2ppm of Potassium Permangeanate but I don't know of any medication that will kill the ich in it's "egg stage". Even a single drop of water can contain a theront or it's free swimming stage. That same drop could contain eggs. I accidentally re-infected my tank with ich 2 weeks later (after I thought I got rid it) when using my only gravel vacuum. It was still wet inside.

Until you can get a new hose, I would just bail out the old water of the non-infected tank with a pitcher and not vacuum the substrate.

 

[Vertigon_z]

In the long run you need another hose (whether a gravel vacuum or standard garden hose). The other buckets are more manageable since you have quite a bit.

Letting the equipment dry completely for 2+ weeks would be enough to sterilize it for ich. You could try to kill any free swimming ich (theront) with a disinfectant like 2ppm of Potassium Permangeanate but I don't know of any medication that will kill the ich in it's "egg stage". Even a single drop of water can contain a theront or it's free swimming stage. That same drop could contain eggs. I accidentally re-infected my tank with ich 2 weeks later (after I thought I got rid it) when using my only gravel vacuum. It was still wet inside.

Until you can get a new hose, I would just bail out the old water of the non-infected tank with a pitcher and not vacuum the substrate.

I was thinking maybe a bleach soak diluted with water then let fully dry for about 2 days? Would this be effective? My tap water also has chlorine which in theory should clear ich from the equipment but I am still unsure.

 

[duanes]

Certain stages of ick, have an impermeable shell, and sometimes even mild bleach is't effective, letting the hoses soak in bleach over night could be.
Also consider, that in some natural waters ick returns year after year, even after ponds have dried up ( in desert oasis), or after the ponds have frozen solid.....
I often had 3 or 4 banks of tanks, each on a separate sump, so always a hose for each bank.
But I'd make siphons out of old alcohol bottles, or plastic soda bottle, or just about anything laying around when I needed a new one.

 

[Vertigon_z]

Certain stages of ick, have an impermeable shell, and sometimes even mild bleach is't effective, letting the hoses soak in bleach over night could be.
Also consider, that in some natural waters ick returns year after year, even after ponds have dried up ( in desert oasis), or after the ponds have frozen solid.....
I often had 3 or 4 banks of tanks, each on a separate sumps, so always a hose for each bank.
But I'd make siphons out of old alcohol bottles, or just about anything laying around when I needed a new one.
View attachment 1407042

Sounds good, I won't risk it. I just ordered a new hose. Thank god the water in my other tanks are pristine so I can wait a few extra days between the water changes while I wait for my new hose to arrive. I will also set aside around 3 buckets to use only on the tank with ICH. I hate when ICH occurs but this time it's kind of exciting actually to combat this disease again.

 

[Rocksor]

Sounds good, I won't risk it. I just ordered a new hose. Thank god the water in my other tanks are pristine so I can wait a few extra days between the water changes while I wait for my new hose to arrive. I will also set aside around 3 buckets to use only on the tank with ICH. I hate when ICH occurs but this time it's kind of exciting actually to combat this disease again.

Label the "ich" buckets QT (for quarantine). Some of my buckets are the same, and when in a rush I tend to mix them up unless they are a different color or shape.

 

[Vertigon_z]

Label the "ich" buckets QT (for quarantine). Some of my buckets are the same, and when in a rush I tend to mix them up unless they are a different color or shape.

Thanks for the heads up!