cleaning aquarium equipment

[seanleila]

ok, after an illness , how do i clean the tools i use to clean my tank? someone mentioned with a weak solution of bleach and water but i don't remember the proportions. how llong do i soak, or do i just rinse. i need to clean my aquarium TODAY and remove all meds and salt now that treatment is finished.

[lloyd berg]

most people will tell you to not clean with bleach at all. i do it but with a very mild solution and rinse after.
to rid the meds you just need a new carbon insert to your filter. if you added salt to your water just let it pass. as you do water changes it will eventually be gone. exposure to light salt bathes won't harm your fish at all.

[AngelMom]

Are the fish all gone? If so, use a 1 part bleach, 19 part water solution to rinse everything, then rinse REALLY well with water and refill with dechlorinated water. I'm assuming you understand that you will need to recycle the tank.

If there are still fish in the tank, as Lloyd said, just add carbon.

[seanleila]

yes there are still fish in the tank. i just really wanted to clean the gravel pump, nets and algae scrubbing pad. i kept treating the tank even after the balas died so i hope all parasites, fungus, infections and so forth are gone. i just didn't want to keep contaminating the tank when i cleaned it. thank you.

[mitchellr]

What about Vinegar? I hear it's good for cleaning tanks.

[seanleila]

since we're on the subject of cleaning stuff how can i "disinfect" plants for my aquarium? would a soak in saltwater work?

[AngelMom]

Regarding vinegar........you can use it, but only on items outside the tank that don't contact the water. If enough gets in the tank, you can get a rapid drop in the pH (and no, I'm not sure just how much is enough).

On the plant disinfectant......are we talking live plants? I'm assuming that's a yes.........

I make up 1 part bleach, 19 parts water (basically 1/4 cup bleach to 4 3/4 cups water) and soak just the stems and leaves (very important to keep the roots out of the bleach!) for about 2 minutes, then immerse the entire plant in a bucket of water (the same temp as the tank) with LOTS of dechlorinator. Let them sit in there about 10 minutes then plant in the tank. It's enough bleach to kill snail eggs and parasites, but not enough to seriously harm the plant (though I'm sure they don't like it).

Another option (if you can get some) is to use a potassium permanganate solution to bathe the leaves. Not sure on the process for that, but I think Buddha might know.

HTH

[oscarbartoni]

I forget the concentration but when I was a kid (many moons ago) there was a pet shop that would do a potassium permanganate bath for the plants that she got in. She would take a leach or other parasite that she found on the plants and drop it in the soultion and time how long it tood to kill it. Then whe woue soak the plants for a little longer than that to insure to kill all or the parasite that might be on the plants. Make sure to soak the plants afterwards in some plain sater so the potassium permanganate does not get into your tank and discolor any ting in your tank. Also make sure to use gloves so that your hands do not turn red or purple.