post-internal parasite... tank/equipment need to be sterilized?

[JakeAlmighty]

hey guys, looking for some advice.


I recently introduced some locally collected drift wood to one of my aquariums. The wood pieces were boiled beforehand for nearly an hour, and the tank they were put in (55 gallons) housed only a mid-size JD that I rescued from a local owner.

Some of the wood pieces grew fuzz, which I assumed was harmless. (based on reading, the growths were not entirely unexpected?) Anyways the JD ate a bunch of it one day and got sick immediately. Treated food for internal parasites but she refused food from day 1. I treated the water column instead as she wasn't eating anything but afaik that isn't actually effective in any way against internal parasites. What poop she had left in her came out white and stringy, and the sunken belly showed up very fast. There was nothing else in the tank - just black sand substrate, the JD, and these test pieces of local drift wood. (test officially failed)

I chucked all that local drift wood immediately and cut off the tank from my normal equipment to protect the fish room. So it's been in total quarantine on separate equipment ever since this started. The JD died last night and has now been buried. Total time from getting sick to death was about two weeks.

so the question now is - do I need to completely sterilize the tank/filter/equipment etc? does the filter media need to be chucked entirely? Bleach, vinegar, let the whole thing roast outside in the sun for a few weeks?

thanks for help

 

[reefman]

Just treat the tank with prazi

 

[Rocksor]

If you want to sterilize the aquarium, I would dump a whole bottle of Peroxide into the tank (full of water) and let it circulate for 24-48 hours. The peroxide should become non-toxic in that 24 hours period, and you can do a 100% water change.

 

[skjl47]

Hello; I use a Clorox bleach solution to disinfect all me tanks about a year ago. I was having a problem with slime-algae (cyanobacter algae).
After using a solution of the bleach I rinsed the tank, gravel and equipment with water. That was not enough to make the tanks ok which I learned after setting back up the first tank. The residue was still enough to affect some snails. I found a dose of PRIME took care of that and was able to set up the rest of the tanks with no further issues.

My guess is the tank can be dosed with a bleach solution with the filters running and the other equipment such as nets, heaters and such immersed for say a day. After that drain and replace the water maybe more than once, then use some PRIME or SAFE.
Of course the beneficial bacteria will also be gone so factor in a way to re-seed some of them to get the cycle going again.

 

[JakeAlmighty]

thanks for the tips guys. I will burn this tank to the ground with either peroxide or bleach and hopefully that'll take care of it. I also ordered some prazipro to have on hand for the future but it'll take a bit to get here.

I don't mind losing the bacteria, I can seed it back no problem after. long as the media itself is not permanently contaminated or anything.


thank you!