Have I disinfected my fish tank correctly?

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Danny

Member
I recently got a goldfish, but he died last night.

I'm not sure of the cause of his death but I have decided to get two new ones to replace him.

I am aware he cpuld have had a fungal infection or anything really.
So just incase he had an infection I clean the tank like the following.

1. I drained the tank of the old water
2. Removed the old gravel and disposed of it.
3. Rinsed out the tank with cold water.
4. Rub the inside with anti bacterial spray.
5. Added boiling water into the tank while the bacterial spray was in there.
6. Left it for 15 minutes then rinsed out with cold water.

Is this okay? Will I have killed off any diseases and other hazzards that may harm the new fish?

If not, please tell me other methods on how to clean the tank to make it safe for the new fish that I hoping to get today or tomorrow.

Help would be much appreciated.
Thanks :)
 
B

Brent

Member
That cleaning should be good. If it was fungus it would have looked like mold on the fish. how long have you had the tank running? If you just started the tank you should read more on the nitrogen cycle. hope this helped.
 
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Azeem

New member
If you were using under gravel filter you might have killed bactaria colony, built inside the filter. These bactaria are benificial as it decomposes the amonia(waste) into nitrate which are less harmfull. You may need to cycle the tank again.
 
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serenadoom

New member
If you have put antibacterial spray in there, you'd want it to be washed thoroughly, and left to dry for a few days, for all the chemicals on the glass to become unharmful. My uncle uses bleach, washes it very well, and lets it stand for about 3 days. You dont need to dispose of gravel, just boil it for 15 minutes, then rinse them a few times, and if you are really paranoid, you can bleach them as well, following the same process. My uncle has had many tanks since I was a child, and he's done the bleaching thing with many things, corals, (no live of course) rocks... anything that had potential exposure to fungus, bacteria, or parasites. Good luck!
 
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