Ok, so my two goldfish have died today, they were struck by a huge surge of ick (ie 90% of the bodies were white spots, it was awful) about 3 days ago, i teated (protozin) and water changed but to no avail

I awoke this morning to find them dead, after one year ive had them, the first problem kills them.

I want to use my 60litre tank again, but i dont want any new fish to die of ick...

so how do i go about sterilising all my stuff to use again?

I need info on filter, gravel, plants etc

I was thinking the best thing to do would be too put all the stuff (bar plants) in boiling water for about 10 mins...

but im unsure

I dont mind about -re cycling my tank

i just need to make sure it is ick free.

thanks.

EDIT: Sorry if this is in the wrong section.

You have several choices.

You can boil all media, gravel, etc. !0 minutes will do it. Clean the tank well, let it dry in the sun.

You can soak everything in bleach solution (12:1 water:bleach) 10 minutes. Use a good dechlorinator when you are done.

You can use potassium permanganate - add it until the water is purple and let the tank run for 4+ hours. If the water turns brown, add more pp until it is purple for at least 4 hours. The color can be neutralized with hydrogen peroxide.

The Ich critters are only capable of being killed when they arein a free swimming stage, not in cyst form or in a fish - and I have had some people that swear the cysts can survive pp treatment and even bleach! Because they can attach to plant leaves and dig themselves deep into a gravel base, you really need to remove all real plants, and clean/sterilize all silk/plastic plants. I would remove and boil all the gravel and hard media (ceramic cylindars, lava rock etc) no matter what other method you decide for the rest of the tank. Gravel is really tough to sterilize - there are so many nooks and crannies for nasties to hide in!

Ich life cycle can be substantially sped up with an increase in temperature. If you have no fish in the tank, you can remove the gravel, and boil it. Leave the rest of the tank alone - raise the temperature to 25C and run the tank as usual. You can feed your cycling bacteria with pure ammonia (just a few drops each day) to keep it alive. Now run the tank without fish for at least 2 weeks ( Overkill, I know but......). At 25C the ich should go through a complete life cycle twice. Add salt to the tank to the dilution of 3 teaspoons of salt per gallon of water. This should kill the nasties.

Since you are also not dealing with fish, some of the more "powerful" medications can be used fairly easily, but they may affect or kill your cycle. "Malachite Green, Formalin, Quinine (hydrochloride or sulphate) or Copper. These medications should be handled very carefully, especially Malachite Green and Formalin which are highly toxic to humans. Wear gloves, don’t breathe in the fumes, don’t get any into your eyes or on your skin. They can affect the tank’s cycle so it is wise to test the water parameters regularly during treatment. They are also not good for plants and invertebrates (e.g. snails) so remove these from the tank before treatment. Malachite Green can also stain the interior of the tank, especially the silicone sealant." -as per Koko's site - (thank you Emma!).

I am sorry about your fish.......

Edit: that is a full rolling boil for 10 minutes. Start the timer AFTER you reach a rolling boil.

Ok.

Im gonna boil the gravel and rocks for a good 10 mins to get rid of those %^&£&'s

The tank ill give it a rinse with a bleach solution, then let it dry, maybe repeat after.

How would i go about sterilising my filter (im not afraid to start my tank cycle again)

and how about plants (real - not silk/plastic)

Thanks

Ive decided to turn the tank into a tropical one, so im gonna buy a heater soon, (one of the reasons why im willing to start the cycle again)

Sorry you lost your goldies.

As Daryl pointed out to you, you don't have to remove everything from the tank and start over. Just remove the gravel and boil it. Although, boiling "colored" gravel might ruin the coloration.

The reason why I'm pointing this out is becuase you will effectively be ruining the bio-filter by breaking down the whole tank.

Ich in itself is a rather easy thing to remedy. The salting and heating will very successfully dessimate every last remaining ich. This will take up to two weeks. Starting your tank from scratch can take up to a month or more.

Either way you decide to go, good luck!

I want to start from scratch, i mean completely, like i just bought the pump filter gravel tank etc

so does anyone have a good way at cleaning my filter?


BTW a 100% water change was necessary, the ich shredded the fish's slime coat and it was everywhere.

And if my gravel is ruined, then i will buy another 2 bags, i didnt really like the colour anyways (i wanted white, but there wasntenough so i got red...)

EDIT: Btw how do i clean my plants?

You should throw them away and get new ones. If the plants are plastic boil them in hot water but be careful not to burn them!!
Sorry about your goldfish. It's hard losing them.

you can clean your filter(assuming its small enough like a HOB) the same way you clean everything else i would imagine. throw away the filter media, take the filter apart, and scrub the parts/soak in bleach and rinse well, same as you will do with the tank itself.

If the plants are real, I would toss them and get new ones, just to be safe.