Disinfect Hospital tank

[Pyramid_Party]

Hi Guys,


How do you disinfect hospital tank and equipment after its use? Stuff like net, heater, sponge filter etc.

Also, how do you reintroduce the fish in the hospital tank back to the main tank? Thanks

 

[myles]

I work at the a lfs. we have hopital tanks in the back. the tank is a bare tank(hiding place) powerhead with the prefilter(bioballs inside) a heater and thats it. after the fish is back to normal I get the chemestry as close to the tank it is goin into, and then bag it and float it est as if it was jsut beign sold and put into the tank its goin into. To disinfect the tank now i drain it and then refill it and poor a good bit of pure bleach in(nothing fancey the 100% stuff not scented or anyhting) in and let it fun through the tank and filter ect for a few good hours. I make sure when i put my finger in the water and smelll it i smell bleach call me paranoid i like it really disinfercted. after a few hours it should looke crystal clean. Then i drain it and rinse it and refill it with fresh water and poor a bunch of declorinator in there and let that run for a wile. after you shoudl smell no bleach i then drain agaien and rinse, and it then should be good if your extra paranoid jsut let it sit and dry. should be good to go then. befor i forget i spray out the sponge or floss in the filter really well befor i bleach and after to jsut get and nasty stuff out. what I find works wel also is if ypou have a tank running jsut throw a extra bag of biomax in your filter to seed it and then throw in in yours hospital tank filter when you need to put a fish in there so its not jsut a fresh filter.

 

[Pyramid_Party]

Ok, so once I get the water chemistry same or close to the main tank, just float it in a bag. Are you suppose to do water changes to dilute the hospital tank water as much as possible? Does it matter if some of the water has meds in it?


So I should add pure bleach. Let it run for awhile, then add dechlorinater and let that run for awhile. Then just rinse everything really well after that.

 

[famous323]

i usually just give everything a good rinse, then i let the tank cycle for about a day or two throw some feeders in there just to see what happens you should be fine.

 

[Pyramid_Party]

But Ive heard that hospital tanks and equipment should never mix with anything else and should only stay as a hospital tank. I mean some of the equipmenet I want to use for other stuff too. but I am worried about the meds that were exposed on it. So I wanna make sure its all clean and gone so its safe. If thats even possible.

 

[twk1]

Well i don't know anything about hospital tanks. But when introducing the well recovered fish into its original tank... i would do the acclimation process just as you would when bringing a new fish home, But take an even LONGER time doin it because of the meds.
When acclimating.. i normally float the fish inside the bag in the tank for awhile then pour a little bit of the tank water into the bag every 5 mins for about 45 mins to an hour. BUT since you have meds in the hospital tank... i would do an even longer acclimation process and pour less water into the bag everytime.

 

[flamenco-t]

Rather than bleach, you can also use a diluted solutions of potassium permanganate. This stuff is toxic and will kill all living organism. Be careful, it may stain non glass parts to purple.

stan

 

[famous323]

But Ive heard that hospital tanks and equipment should never mix with anything else and should only stay as a hospital tank. I mean some of the equipmenet I want to use for other stuff too. but I am worried about the meds that were exposed on it. So I wanna make sure its all clean and gone so its safe. If thats even possible.

yeah bro i know your fish are precious what meds are you using??? i haven't really use any medication that was that drastic only the norm melafix with salt and high temp

 

[Pyramid_Party]

Using Maracyn in a hospital tank.

 

[cassharper]

it's not the meds you should worry about getting into the tank, it's the disease. Just "a good rinse" will not kill this and could carry over to the next fish you put in there. I have always used bleach, but I like the pottasium permanganate idea too. It's cheap, I got more than I could ever use for like $10. The only reason I think I would still go with bleach, is that it disappates extremely fast. Dechlor also won't get rid of potassium permanganate.

As for the water chemistry, just do water changes and fill with water from your tank. Take baby steps at first then go from there.

I have a net, heater, filter (sponge) and everything I only use in my hospital tank. Since I don't use it that often, I just throw the sponge away. A good way to filter, is keep a powerhead in your tank (small) with a sponge on it, have the same size power head in your hospital tank. (say a Rio 50, they're like $13 a piece). When you need to use it, transfer sponges and add a new one to your main tank. This will have the new sponge seeded by the time you need to use it again and an instantly cycled hospital tank.

Whole get up shouldn't cost you too much (maybe $25-30) and is always ready.