Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => Fish Health => Topic started by: Diz1 on August 10, 2014, 07:56:21 PM
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I just wondered what people do to ensure that gravel cleaners/siphons, buckets etc. are properly sterilised after treating for whitespot. Presumably there's a chance of reintroducing the infection if you don't take care? ???
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i pored or placed mine in boiling hot water from the kettle
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After giving everything a thorough rinse in clean water I just leave mine to dry completely, in the sun if possible. I've not had a re-infection by doing this.
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Thanks everyone. I'm relieved I don't have to mess about with bleach or any other chemicals. Boiling water or leaving to dry in the sun it is then! :)
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Thanks everyone. I'm relieved I don't have to mess about with bleach or any other chemicals. Boiling water or leaving to dry in the sun it is then! :)
Whitespot is actually a type of parasite, rather than a bacteria or virus (with the 'whitespot' actually being a cyst like casing which contains the parasite, not the parasite itself) and is highly unlikely to survive outside of the tank.
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Thanks dbaggie. That's good to know. So you'd just do the cleaning of equipment for bacterial and viral infections then?
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When my betta got lymphocystis, I kept him in his own tank (I keep bettas that way anyway) with a separate siphon tube and bucket to eliminate cross contamination. When the disease got so bad that he had small lumps all down one side and the big one expanded into the gill, he started behaving really sick so I took the decision to put him down. Then I bleached the tank, filter, heater, bleachable decor, siphon tube and bucket. I threw away the silk plants and filter media. Then had to do my first ever fishless cycle before I could get another betta.
Maybe all the bleaching was overkill but I didn't want to risk any other fish getting that disease.
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So you'd just do the cleaning of equipment for bacterial and viral infections then?
Yes, although only the equipment which is used with the tank. An ideal would be to fully sterilise the tank as per Sue's example but with a full tank that's going to be pretty difficult (even if you have a quarantine/hospital tank) and the less serious/contagious problems should be fully resolved by any meds really. If it's something that readily available meds can't resolve then the best bet is to remove the affected fish asap and hope your others haven't picked up the problem!
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Great thanks. I'm waiting for my QT to arrive sometime this week, so I'm really just stocking up on knowledge at the moment. Hadn't really thought about separate sets of equipment for each tank, but that's bound to be a good idea :)
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dbaggie has reminded me that I should have said that lymphocystis is an infectious, incurable viral disease. That's why I went over the top with sterilisation.
When I've had to treat sick fish in the QT/hospital tank I always use separate cleaning equipment for the duration, then let it dry thoroughly before letting it anywhere near healthy fish. It's only after lymphocystis that I bleached it.