cleaning qt tank

[zchauvin]

I had my 29g cube running for 4 days to cycle then used as qt tank with infected fish that died after some time. question is how and what to use to clean tank thoroughly to put cycling again for when i get my 6 discus from hans next month.

[Vee]

I would use potassium permagnate - let sit for a 24 hours in a pink color. Put in all hoses, airstones, etc. that were associated with this tank as well. Drain and wipe dry. Then wipe with ethanol and let dry 24 hours.

[zchauvin]

I would use potassium permagnate - let sit for a 24 hours in a pink color. Put in all hoses, airstones, etc. that were associated with this tank as well. Drain and wipe dry. Then wipe with ethanol and let dry 24 hours.

where can i get enough pp to do that, only sourse ive found at petsmart,walmart and my lfs is jungle clear water..

[Keith Perkins]

I bought my PP at Farm and Fleet, a large store that carries just about everything. If it's too big a hassle to find, a bleach solution will also clean up the QT quiet nicely.

[zchauvin]

I bought my PP at Farm and Fleet, a large store that carries just about everything. If it's too big a hassle to find, a bleach solution will also clean up the QT quiet nicely.

Was trying to lean towards bleach. I have been shopping at two lfs for around 6 months now and of course walmart ect.. and have not found anything other than clearwater. How would i dose/ use the bleach to clean. I have air stone with hose, dig thermometer, and heater plus tank of course that were all in water.

[Vee]

Clearwater is great! Just put in the reccommended dose and add if the color starts to turn brown. Bleach is good if it's strong enough solution and you rinse like crazy afterwards and use dechor. Someone posted here on SD that he soaked his tank with a bleach solution and he found flukes still alive (he used a microscope to check). With PP, the flukes were dead. I caution you too that PP stains hoses a brown color so if that's not ok, used the bleach.

[Keith Perkins]

Yea, PP is definitely not a lfs item. My mother is a retired nurse so I go heavy on the bleach, I use 1 part bleach to 4 parts waters. You can just toss all that stuff in the aquarium and add enough bleach solution to cover it. Use a rag and just wipe down the rest of the inside of the aquarium that's not covered by water. Empty the tank and either rinse it once (my preference) or just let everything completely air dry. You're not suppose to have to rinse when you use bleach, but I like to to get rid of the smell. Oh yea, don't use a scented bleach. That's it, you're good to go.

[zchauvin]

Yea, PP is definitely not a lfs item. My mother is a retired nurse so I go heavy on the bleach, I use 1 part bleach to 4 parts waters. You can just toss all that stuff in the aquarium and add enough bleach solution to cover it. Use a rag and just wipe down the rest of the inside of the aquarium that's not covered by water. Empty the tank and either rinse it once (my preference) or just let everything completely air dry. You're not suppose to have to rinse when you use bleach, but I like to to get rid of the smell. Oh yea, don't use a scented bleach. That's it, you're good to go.
alrightly will do thanks for the input. i will drain tank let air dry to kill most bacteria then will put some water with bleach back in to cover all items and so forth with the cleaning. will wait till friday night to add back filter pad and water to start cycle... correct me if im wrong but with the bit of tank knowledge i do have, a qt tank does have to be cycled as every other correct??

[Keith Perkins]

That depends. If you're using it as a hospital and changing tons of water, no. If you're using it as a true QT tank where you're going to have fish in it for a month or more I'd cycle it before using it.

[zchauvin]

That depends. If you're using it as a hospital and changing tons of water, no. If you're using it as a true QT tank where you're going to have fish in it for a month or more I'd cycle it before using it.

ehhh will be used as both i guess you can say. i will use as qt when i get half dozen from hans or whoever i decide( havent seen anyone but hans' so far) and if i need it will be for hospital tank after that.

[Eddie]

Bleach and water


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

[zchauvin]

Bleach and water


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

Got it done and a headache along the way from smell lol

[wendy9722]

I use bleach and water and rinse like crazy!!!! Smell it and see if the scent is still there. Keep rinsing!!!!

[Northwoods Discus]

Bleach is chlorine, sodium hypochlorite. Use some safe or prime after rinsing well. I suppose you could use a pool test strip to test for remaining Cl.

[zchauvin]

Bleach is chlorine, sodium hypochlorite. Use some safe or prime after rinsing well. I suppose you could use a pool test strip to test for remaining Cl.

We have pool so works well for test strips, as for the two you mentioned. Rinse well then fill and the add one correct

[Northwoods Discus]

Yes Safe or Prime. They are used to remove chlorine from tap water.

[zchauvin]

Oh ok yeah I use dechlor every wc and what not lol I'm new but I read a lot and by far that's the one thing I got on point :)

But if you have a minute id love to know easiest way to get my ph (8) lower without using bottle after bottle of buffer. Plan on installing ro/Di but prob will only bring it to 7.8 or so. What about water softened before ro/di?? Any way you can think. Tank will be 75g biotope with 6-8 wild blues

[Keith Perkins]

Most domestic discus can do just fine in a high Ph tank, as long as the Ph is consistant. Trying to force it down with chemicals will likely at some point cause it to start bouncing around and you're going to cause way more harm than good. I'd save you money.

[Northwoods Discus]

For wilds you may want it to be a little lower and softer. I think they can adjust too, but I do not have any wilds, yet. My R/O water with remineralization with Replenish is 6.3 - 6.5 My well water can be as high as 8.4 I can reduce the hardness with my water softener. Then through the R/O. For non breeding tanks I use the softened water with some straight well water added back. I have started using half and half potassium and sodium softener pellets to try to cut down on my sodium level in the water. It may benefit my planted tank as well as my own health. There is no way I can use straight well water it is so hard and extreme high Iron. I have an iron removal system in front of my softener and that saves the softener resin. I should just raise Africans.

[cjr8420]

I had my 29g cube running for 4 days to cycle then used as qt tank with infected fish that died after some time. question is how and what to use to clean tank thoroughly to put cycling again for when i get my 6 discus from hans next month.

b4 u get any new fish read cycling tank thread running an empty or stocked tank for four days does not complete a cycle if ur going with wilds be xtra careful

[zchauvin]

b4 u get any new fish read cycling tank thread running an empty or stocked tank for four days does not complete a cycle if ur going with wilds be xtra careful

LOL I am well aware, what I meant was I had it as sw then took apart. I bought two discus for my 29 planted and they got a bacterial infection or some kind of worm that killed them both btw. Anyways I had tank cycling to be a fw after stopping sw buttt they got sick and was only other tank I had so used it. I am now cleaning it and recycling it for say a month or so( whatever it takes) and then using as qt tank not hospital tank. My question pertaining to the ph is for my 75 I'm setting up for the wilds to be added in some two months

[Keith Perkins]

Sorry, if you said the tank was going to be for wilds I missed it. I'll leave the Ph question to those on WILD side in that case.

[jimg]

Oh ok yeah I use dechlor every wc and what not lol I'm new but I read a lot and by far that's the one thing I got on point :)

But if you have a minute id love to know easiest way to get my ph (8) lower without using bottle after bottle of buffer. Plan on installing ro/Di but prob will only bring it to 7.8 or so. What about water softened before ro/di?? Any way you can think. Tank will be 75g biotope with 6-8 wild blues

ro with di should bring it quite a bit lower than 7.8 if you start with 8.0, hard to say with different waters, but it should bring ph down to low 6's. With a di your gh should be 0. no use imo for di with discus

also no reason imo to worry about chlorine residue. let it air dry then rinse good, that's it.