Tank Cleaning Problem

[Underwurlde]

OK, say I wanted to clean a tank. (I want to eradicate snails).

I get a second tank, fill it with water & transfer my fish.

I then clean the heater & pump for an hour or so (by adding alum & potassium peroxide to the water and allowing it to pump around the system for an hour or so). Now the heater & pump is clean I can rinse them & then use them in the second tank to keep my fish happy (no need to buy a new pump & heater in other words).

I then clean the tank & plants. Ditch the substrate.

So far so good, everything has been cleaned APART from my filters, because cleaning them would kill the bacteria.

So guys & gals, is it possible to clean a filter of snails and their eggs WITHOUT destroying my cycled colony of ammonia busting bacteria

TIA,

Andy

 

[mark.w.jones]

I would say that your plan sounds feasible. Although I would be slightly wary of the alum & potassium peroxide. I reckon as long as you thorughly rinse off aferwards it'll be OK but see what others think as I havnt used these things to clean my tank b4. I have bleach dipped all my plants in a 1:20 solution though to get rid of algae and snails before with no ill effects on fish. My only main concerns are your dropping temp. / increase in waste in your temporary tank for your fish and also how much of your bacteria will die off from not having the filter running for that long.

 

[Underwurlde]

I would say that your plan sounds feasible.

It is. Apart from the filter bit. I can't clean it without killing the bacterial colony. If I transfer it without cleaning, I can guarentee there will either be snails and / or their eggs in there & the whole cleaning process will be a waste of time.

Although I would be slightly wary of the alum & potassium peroxide.

Alum is probably not necessary when using Potassium Peroxide as this will kill everything: snails, their eggs, algae, bacteria. EVERTHING - hence, can't use it on the filters.
(The Alum is just a double barrelled killer for snails and therefore I may use this on its own to clean the filters).

I reckon as long as you thorughly rinse off aferwards it'll be OK

God, yes!

I have bleach dipped all my plants in a 1:20 solution though to get rid of algae and snails before with no ill effects on fish.

This will not kill the snails. This technique is for killing algae & bacteria. If you don't rinse the plants after treatment, it will effect the filters as this is chlorine and hence the fish (eventually). But I guess you do rinse.

My only main concerns are your dropping temp. / increase in waste in your temporary tank for your fish and also how much of your bacteria will die off from not having the filter running for that long.

I don't (hope) think the temps will drop by the time I have sterilized & cleaned the heater. Bacterial colony should be fine - i'll be transferring it straight to water after cleaning (IF I can). Regular water changes will take care of any waste.

In a nutshell then, all the above points are managable apart from the filter bit. So the million dollar question is: If I clean the filters in an Alum solution (Aluminium Sulphate <- I know this is not 'Alum' per se, but is what I have to hand) this should kill any snails and their eggs therein BUT will it kill off the bacterial colony??

Andy