"resetting" a tank

[ftbetta]

So I have a 5G tank with a filter and a heater. Weve had it up and running for almost a year now, and have had a few african dwarf frogs and then a betta in the tank. after the initial cycling process we have had pretty stable water conditions. I would change about 10-20% of the water every other week and test the water before each change with test strips and everything stayed stable. Towards the end the nitrates went up to about 20, but nitrites and ammonia always stayed at zero. However, the betta got really sick and had a lot of problems with his fins and then turned very dull and white spottish.

So, before I look into getting any new fish I want to make sure that my water is clean and healthy and that everything is "reset" and I'm not going to carry anything over to any new fish. How do I do this and what kinds of things do I need to check for to know that it is OK?

Thanks

 

[docpark]

So I have a 5G tank with a filter and a heater. Weve had it up and running for almost a year now, and have had a few african dwarf frogs and then a betta in the tank. after the initial cycling process we have had pretty stable water conditions. I would change about 10-20% of the water every other week and test the water before each change with test strips and everything stayed stable. Towards the end the nitrates went up to about 20, but nitrites and ammonia always stayed at zero. However, the betta got really sick and had a lot of problems with his fins and then turned very dull and white spottish.

So, before I look into getting any new fish I want to make sure that my water is clean and healthy and that everything is "reset" and I'm not going to carry anything over to any new fish. How do I do this and what kinds of things do I need to check for to know that it is OK?

Thanks

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Hi ftbetta:

Based on what happened to your betta, I'd be tempted to empty the tank and clean everything thoroughly before setting it up again for new fish. If it's been awhile since you lost him then it's possible that any disease organisms would have died off by now, but unless you know exactly what killed him then you'd be taking a chance.

I suppose another thing to consider would be to treat the tank with a broad-spectrum antibiotic or antiparasitic before reestablishing the cycle and adding more fish but, again, you'd need to know what your betta died from.

 

[ShinySideUp]

Also, 10 to 20% water change every two weeks is woefully inadequate; I change half my water every week (and that's 300 litres at a time). Tropical fish are often referred to as freshwater fish, it's in the name. I would urge everyone to look at the frequency and quantity of their water changes as a good maintenance regime can prevent a myriad of problems from occurring.

 

[ftbetta]

If I take everything out and clean it then I would have to let it re-cycle again and its just like having a brand new tank? I already took the plants out just to "scrub" (agitate and rub together under hot water) just because it seemed an awfully convenient time to do that and have also been stirring up the gravel, rinsing out the filter cartridge and have done a few big water changes.

What exactly is involved in cleaning everything to the standard mentioned, especially the gravel? I am more tempted to just add an antibiotic, but is that going to mess up healthy bacteria anyway and I would have to let it cycle again after that as well?

and while its empty, should I continue to be doing water changes, or oncoe I have some of the mess stirred up and sucked out are water changes unnecessary if theres nothing living in it?

 

[StevenF]

and while its empty, should I continue to be doing water changes, or oncoe I have some of the mess stirred up and sucked out are water changes unnecessary if theres nothing living in it?

If there is nothing living in the tank you can use chlorine or iodine to sterilize the tan walls and substrate. You can get pure water treatment iodine and chlorine tables at stores caring hiking equipment. You can also get iodine tincture at your local pharmacy. Add more iodine or chlorine tables than recommended . The recommended dosages is just enough to kill bacteria and parasites in one hour.
For iodine Tincture to make drinking water use 5 drops per quart.

You don't want drinking water. you want sterilizing water. So using triple the recommended dosage should kill everything in the tank and substrate. The iodine tincture bottle I have is 30ml. Four your 5 gallon you put all 30ml in the tank. Be sure everything you want to sterilize is fully covered by the water and be sure to store up the substrate to insure every corner is expose to iodine. Let it site for several hours. After that drain the tank and then rinse it twice. At that point there will not be enough iodine or chlorine to harm your fish.

After that you will have to use ammonia to recycle the tank before adding fish.

For the plants you could tease them with a anti parasite, and anti algae treatment in a bucket of water with some plant fertilizer. The fertilizer would help the plants grow and stabilize them when you apply the treatments. After testing the plants do several water changes and reapply fertilizer and keep the bucket exposed to light. The fertilizer and lifer will allow the plants to heal from any damage they received since being removed from the aquarium.

Please note I have never done this but everything I have listed should kill everything in the tank. I don't know if the above will do any damage to the equipment.

 

[docpark]

If I take everything out and clean it then I would have to let it re-cycle again and its just like having a brand new tank? I already took the plants out just to "scrub" (agitate and rub together under hot water) just because it seemed an awfully convenient time to do that and have also been stirring up the gravel, rinsing out the filter cartridge and have done a few big water changes.

What exactly is involved in cleaning everything to the standard mentioned, especially the gravel? I am more tempted to just add an antibiotic, but is that going to mess up healthy bacteria anyway and I would have to let it cycle again after that as well?

and while its empty, should I continue to be doing water changes, or oncoe I have some of the mess stirred up and sucked out are water changes unnecessary if theres nothing living in it?

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Hi ftbetta:

Yes, if you broke it down and cleaned everything you would essentially be starting over again with a new tank, meaning that you would have to reestablish the nitrogen cycle.

You could wash the tank itself with a 1:20 solution of bleach and water, and then rinse it thoroughly. Decorations, the filter, the heater etc. can be cleaned with very hot water. You can also soak the substrate in very hot water (or replace it altogether, since you have a small tank).

If you decide to leave the tank set up and treat it with medication as a preventive measure, then depending on the treatment you use it is possible that the biofilter will be affected and the tank will need to be cycled again. If you use some of the powerful broad-spectrum antibiotics it will almost certainly hit your beneficial bacteria. A broad-spectrum antiparasitic may not have that bad an effect on them. The problem is that, without knowing what killed your fish, you have no way of knowing which type of medication to use.

A third option might be to treat the tank with some of the milder medications, like the API Melafix/Pimafix combo, as a preventive measure. I've never heard of this being done and have no idea whether or not it would be effective, but people who've used those two products in established tanks have told me they don't seem to affect the nitrifying bacteria.