Several recommended methods for cleaning and sterilizing your tank and equipment.
If disease has killed your fish, you need to sterilize your tank and equipment in order to eliminate Ick or parasitic and fungal type diseases. This includes decorations, filters, heaters, nets and gravel. Draining and refilling the tank is not good enough because these diseases can linger on. Everything must be removed and sterilized.
There are many ways to disinfect an aquarium. Some people use bleach or a heavy salt mix to clean while others will use potassium permanganate. No matter what way you do it, remember to rinse many times in fresh water.
To remove bleach odours, use vinegar and baking soda. Rinse until there is no smell. This can be a very long process of soaking and rinsing.
Scrubbing down the tank and equipment with salt is safer because a little bit of salt residue does not hurt fish. Put some salt on a clean rag and the gentle abrasion of the salt will help remove stubborn algae.
Potassium permanganate is a chemical that can be used to sterilize tanks. It is available at most pool supply stores.
No matter which way you clean your tank and equipment, remember to rinse many times in fresh water. In the warm weather, I put everything into buckets and take them out in the yard then let the hose run in the buckets for a few hours. This will take care of any residue of disinfectant that was left behind.
Some people heat up the tank water to 98 degrees (with no fish inside) for a couple of days, then drain the tank and let it sit dry for a week. The dry tank will kill the parasites because there will be no animal host.
Then comes the fun of setting up your aquarium again.
