Nuking a tank that has no fish/etc in it

[Spar]

I have a cycled 75g w/ 40g sump that I use for fish QT. I plan to remove my current fish out to do the Tank Transfer method, and then I will put them back in the 75g after for PraziPro and Observation treatment for a few weeks.

In the meantime while the 75g is fish/inhabitant free, what is the best option to nuke it of Ich/parasites while still maintaining its bacteria (as it has been cycled for years now)? Can I just do strong copper, like .8ppm for a couple weeks? Any other options outside of doing a complete clean / dry-out?

And just to clarify, I mean something that would work in 2 weeks if possible...

 

[Mrscribbled]

In order to ensure all cysts would be nuked you'd have to use bleach. Even extreme high doses of copper will not effect cysts.

 

[Spar]

Bugga. Guess I get to use the normal process and wait it out.

 

[sleepydoc]

Unless you want to kill the biofilter you can either leave it fallow or do copper x4 weeks. If you have inverts, your choices narrow to leaving it fallow.

 

[Spar]

Was thinking, I don't mind killing the bacteria. I will just soak a sponge in my DT for the next 2 weeks while doing the TT in other tanks, and re seed the tank. There is nothing else living in the tank, i only use it as a HT for fish.

The main thing I do not want to do (nor have time to do) is take the tank apart and clean it / dry it. What options do I have given this?

 

[sleepydoc]

If you use a sponge from the tank to re-seed the tank you are trying to sanitize, you risk re-innoculating the tank with ich that may be on the sponge. Not worth the risk of putting all your work to waste, IMO.

Options for sanitizing/ridding a tank of ich are: desiccation, Chlorine, Copper, fallow period, possibly extreme hypo (i.e. 1.000) and significant heat (>104) for a prolonged period.

The last two are not guaranteed and I wouldn't recommend them. Copper will work but may leach into the rocks and hang around, so not the best. The same with chlorine. Desiccation isn't a good option if you are trying to avoid completely breaking down the tank. Leaving it fallow is honestly your best option, IMO. It takes a while, but is actually the easiest of the options.

 

[Dmorty217]

Was thinking, I don't mind killing the bacteria. I will just soak a sponge in my DT for the next 2 weeks while doing the TT in other tanks, and re seed the tank. There is nothing else living in the tank, i only use it as a HT for fish.

The main thing I do not want to do (nor have time to do) is take the tank apart and clean it / dry it. What options do I have given this?

Chloroquine phosphate will not hurt biological filtration, it will however kill all inverts. It will need to be dosed in consecutive days, without carbon, protein skimming, uv, and ozone. I would advocate turning your filter off during the day and running it at night only to further the effectiveness of the treatment.

 

[Spar]

Just to clarify, the tank I am referring to is my old QT. It is just glass, water, PVC, heater, and a couple pumps. No Live Rock, no inverts, no pods, no coral... only 6 fish in it currently. The 6 fish are not QT'ed yet.

All fish in my DT were QT'ed through Hypo initially, and I even QT my inverts/etc (8 week no-fish fallow treatment), so I am confident the DT is ich-free.

What I am trying to achieve is to remove the 6 fish from the old QT and do TT in much smaller separate tanks. I then want to move the 6 fish back into the old QT (the 75g), and just use it for observation for the following 4 weeks.

...The problem here is that the 75g old QT (now to be used for observation post-TT) is not ich-free. So I want to rid it of Ich while the 6 fish are going through TT method elsewhere. If I can't make the old QT ich-free during the 12 days of TT'ing the fish, then I will have to keep the fish in the smaller tank until it is (before transferring them back).

I have used copper in the old QT before, so am not concerned about more leaching into anything.

And I am obviously trying to avoid having to refill the 75g + 40g sump with brand new water if I were to tear it down, wash it out and dry it out. But, if that is the best option, than I guess I can suck up the $50 salt.

 

[Dmorty217]

It will cost you somewhere between 40-50$ for the chloroquine phosphate but it is also very effective for treating flukes along with ich

 

[Spar]

Good point... I decided I am just going to drain, clean, dry and refill it with new water. I do 50-100 gallon water changes on my DT at a time all the time, so no reason I need to get stingy now

 

[sleepydoc]

If you are confident that the DT is ich free, transferring a sponge for the filter will help to speed the cycle significantly. I wouldn't trust Cu to eradicate ich in 12 days, though. Drying is a better choice.

 

[Spar]

Agreed, good plan.

What do people do about pumps like Mag Drives or tubing? There could be small amounts of water held inside the unit or tube. Figure if I let it sit out for a couple weeks it will get the trick done regardless?

 

[Dmorty217]

Set it out in the sun it will evap the water from the pump

 

[sleepydoc]

Fill a sink with hot water straight from the tap and let it run for an hour. Between the Cl and the heat they should be sanitized.