need to nuke tank
- Thread starter blt93932
- Start date
just so its clearly said, do not use copper on inverts. only fish. you said your qt had ammonia, if it had ammonia and your fish already were sick that could easily have rapidly killed them. never put fish in anything that has ammonia or nitrites showing.
also.... ive never seen anything like that pic.
reefguy
Member
I am no expert but it kinda looks like uronema. It's a parasite that is pretty nasty. I am going off what I remember from school so could be wrong but what you described along with the pictures leads me to this. Fish normally die real fast from this because it basically disables the gills.
The ciliate protozoan is treated with formalin. Hopefully this helps.
Happy reefing!
The ciliate protozoan is treated with formalin. Hopefully this helps.
Happy reefing!
They seemed to be breathing strangely. How do I deal with my tank? I have a lot so snails, but am afraid anything parasitic might just live on them? Do I add a couple of gallons of bleach? I want to keep some sand for substrate but am getting rid of the dsb, do I bleach the sand?
QT the fish and remove the inverts to a separate tank just for them. A cheap Rubbermaid would work for the inverts if you don't have another tank.
You could pull all the LR and just let it bake in the sun for a few days. After that, I'd put the LR in a Rubbermaid with plain water for another few days. Then I'd mix the Rubbermaid with saltwater and let it cure until your ammonia comes down. You will get a decent amount of ammonia from the LR die off.
Drain the tank and clean it good with vinegar and water.
You can bleach the sand in regular tap water until you are ready for it. Obviously rise the heck out of it when you're ready for it before putting it back in the tank.
Recycle the tank before you put the fish back in.
Right or wrong, this is what I would do if faced with the same situation.
Hope this helps!
You could pull all the LR and just let it bake in the sun for a few days. After that, I'd put the LR in a Rubbermaid with plain water for another few days. Then I'd mix the Rubbermaid with saltwater and let it cure until your ammonia comes down. You will get a decent amount of ammonia from the LR die off.
Drain the tank and clean it good with vinegar and water.
You can bleach the sand in regular tap water until you are ready for it. Obviously rise the heck out of it when you're ready for it before putting it back in the tank.
Recycle the tank before you put the fish back in.
Right or wrong, this is what I would do if faced with the same situation.
Hope this helps!
dont put bleach directly in the tank. pull the rock and put it in a tub full of freshwater and add some bleach.(i cant remember the ratios.) then just put a pump in there to circulate it. after its sat for a while, youll need to change out all the water several times and add prime to help remove the chlorine left behind. you could bleach the sand but since its so hard to get clean, id probably use something like grain alcohol. the tank you can just wipe out with rubbing alcohol or the grain alcohol. someone else may have better suggestions. these are just ideas im throwing at ya.
QT the fish and remove the inverts to a separate tank just for them. A cheap Rubbermaid would work for the inverts if you don't have another tank.
You could pull all the LR and just let it bake in the sun for a few days. After that, I'd put the LR in a Rubbermaid with plain water for another few days. Then I'd mix the Rubbermaid with saltwater and let it cure until your ammonia comes down. You will get a decent amount of ammonia from the LR die off.
Drain the tank and clean it good with vinegar and water.
You can bleach the sand in regular tap water until you are ready for it. Obviously rise the heck out of it when you're ready for it before putting it back in the tank.
Recycle the tank before you put the fish back in.
Right or wrong, this is what I would do if faced with the same situation.
Hope this helps!
You could pull all the LR and just let it bake in the sun for a few days. After that, I'd put the LR in a Rubbermaid with plain water for another few days. Then I'd mix the Rubbermaid with saltwater and let it cure until your ammonia comes down. You will get a decent amount of ammonia from the LR die off.
Drain the tank and clean it good with vinegar and water.
You can bleach the sand in regular tap water until you are ready for it. Obviously rise the heck out of it when you're ready for it before putting it back in the tank.
Recycle the tank before you put the fish back in.
Right or wrong, this is what I would do if faced with the same situation.
Hope this helps!
Mike Johnson
Well-Known Member
Okay, I would dismantle the tank completely and do what Bear said. Mix bleach 1/2 cup per gallon for cleaning purposes. Bleach is perfectly safe to use if allowed to air out for a couple days. (I clean my socks with it all the time.)
I don't want to alarm you, but on the other hand I do want to warn you of a potential risk you may have. The symptoms you described (besides ich) are symptoms of a Mycobacterium. This disease can spread to humans and although rare it does happen - and it's not pretty. Please be careful with your tank until you have it disinfected. It can spread to humans through a cut in your skin.
Here's a couple links to read:
http://www.amdareef.com/mc_mycobacteriosis.htm
http://www.chucksaddiction.com/disease.html
It's better to be safe than sorry. About a year ago I read an article just like yours about how everything died that went into the tank. Well, the woman finally got sick and after a lot of suffering and misdiagnosis was finally diagnosed with Mycobacterium marinum. A vet she went to and not the doctors finally correctly diagnosed her!
I don't want to alarm you, but on the other hand I do want to warn you of a potential risk you may have. The symptoms you described (besides ich) are symptoms of a Mycobacterium. This disease can spread to humans and although rare it does happen - and it's not pretty. Please be careful with your tank until you have it disinfected. It can spread to humans through a cut in your skin.
Here's a couple links to read:
http://www.amdareef.com/mc_mycobacteriosis.htm
http://www.chucksaddiction.com/disease.html
It's better to be safe than sorry. About a year ago I read an article just like yours about how everything died that went into the tank. Well, the woman finally got sick and after a lot of suffering and misdiagnosis was finally diagnosed with Mycobacterium marinum. A vet she went to and not the doctors finally correctly diagnosed her!
Mike Johnson
Well-Known Member
See the nodule behind the gill plate by the eye? That's what it starts out looking like.
So sorry to tell you this. I do not make it a habit to try to scare people.
So sorry to tell you this. I do not make it a habit to try to scare people.
Gasturbineguy
Member
I am no expert but I have a question for some of the pros on here. If he takes out all the fish and inverts and emptys the salt water. Can't you just fill the tank with RO water to kill off the parisites then empty the RO refill with new RO and add salt let the tank recycle then restock? I am just wondering if that would work.
reefle
Active Member
I think a tank would need to stay dry for a couple weeks. If you're looking to nuke live rock, I'm currently in the process of baking my rocks in the oven. I hear it kills everything in an hour or less. Then gonna soak it in RO water to lets the die off fall away. But yeah, I'm just drying everything works the best.
ive done it. i thought it would be a better idea than boiling it since theres alot of talk about neurotoxins going airborn. the only complaint i had, is that it made the rock brittle. some of them broke under there own weight while being cooked.
i cooked them at around 250 degrees(pretty much the lowest my oven goes) for around 45 minutes. i didnt make it to an hour because the smell was awful and gave me a very bad headache.
ps. i was killing an aiptasia infestation not parasites.
Last edited:
Gasturbineguy
Member
I've done hyposalinity treatments in the past with good success for ich. Don't hear about it much these days, not sure why. Worked really well but needed to really track what you were doing. Not sure on any hardcore "gisms" surviving that. Aiptasia is damn near something from hell to kill off, being an electrical guy I like to "aiptaser" them. Tried a muratic acid dip once.... never again lol, those fumes suck. Never baked or boiled rock, would almost think freezing would be as effective when ya think about it.
Figure if anything of marine orgins lives through near fresh water conditions it's Gods will
Figure if anything of marine orgins lives through near fresh water conditions it's Gods will
Mike Johnson
Well-Known Member
I've done hyposalinity treatments in the past with good success for ich. Don't hear about it much these days, not sure why. Worked really well but needed to really track what you were doing. Not sure on any hardcore "gisms" surviving that. Aiptasia is damn near something from hell to kill off, being an electrical guy I like to "aiptaser" them. Tried a muratic acid dip once.... never again lol, those fumes suck. Never baked or boiled rock, would almost think freezing would be as effective when ya think about it.
Figure if anything of marine orgins lives through near fresh water conditions it's Gods will
You are partially correct about freshwater treatments killing most everything, but certainly not everything. In the category of "not everything" is Mycobacterium; it is a waterborne bacteria - fresh or salt. Most instances of it are freshwater. When I was first reading this post one of my first thoughts was, "I wonder if there was cross-contamination from a fresh water tank?"