How To Clean Infected Hospital Tank?

[ellejay]

Well before I went on holiday I had a dilemma on what to do with one of my neons. It had a very swollen eye and looked rather skinny with a bit of fin rot. I didn't want to euthanize it as it was still eating but couldn't risk leaving it unchecked for a week and infecting the other fish, so I moved it into a very basic hospital tank (no heater or filter, left by the window with lots of spare plants in) and I'm glad I did. Came home yesterday, all the fish in the main tank are fine (hooray! ), and while the neon is alive and it's fins look better, the eye is worse and he looks like its time to put it out of its misery.

The problem is, there are lots of tiny white worms on the side of the hospital tank. How would I go about cleaning it and making sure that nothing else gets infected? I will bin all the plants, what should i do with the bogwood? Am I better off binning the tank (cheap, plastic) and buying a basic starter tank to have as a spare instead? If not I'll get a cheap heater and filter for this one for any future quarantine issues. Also should I treat my main tank? None of the other fish are symptomatic. Sorry for all the questions!

 

[micko]

I'm surprised the fish survived at all without a heater and filter.

If/when your cleaning it out, use plenty of very hot water and salt. Make sure you wash the tank well.

 

[fluttermoth]

I'd pour boiling water over the bogwood and then leave it to dry completely. In the future, use something like plastic plants and flowerpots for your hospital tank, as they can be easily disinfected in hot wate and salt, as micko suggests, athough real plants that you bin afterwards would be fine too.

I wouldn't treat the main tank if all the fish are healthy.

 

[ellejay]

Thanks very much for the advice. Plastic plants will have to be a future purchase along with the filter and heater (is a heater ok in a plastic tank?), just put the live plants in in the hope that they might help a little with filtration.

Preparing to spend the afternoon elbow deep in hot salty water then!

 

[Tolak]

1 part bleach, 20 parts water, rinse well afterward. Double up on dechlor when filling, it's good to go.

 

[fluttermoth]

Heaters are fine in plastic tank, as long as you don't let them actually come into contact with the plastic.