uprightandlocked

Hi All ...

Well - bad news. My 10g tank completely fell apart on me while I was away on my last trip. The fish-sitter "forgot" to stop by the last two days (she is being replaced ... nothing like firing family ... haha!) and when I got home last night I found three dead fishies and one sick, living fish. My two female molly's passed away, and so did my male swordtail. All three of them were resting on the bottom of the tank, completely covered in bushy, white fuzz. Is that what killed them, or is that what happened after they died? The male molly that is still living seems to be covered in a lesser amount of white fuzz. I continue to treat him with Ich Attack, but I do not think he is going to make it. I will be moving him to my quarantine tank this afternoon.

My question is this: I will plan on nursing my male molly back to health and leaving him in the quarantine tank. I am very interested in adopting more bettas, I am truly enjoying Jackamino. I would like to learn more about dividing my 10g in half so I can bring two more bettas into my apartment. How do I go about breaking down the tank and washing it thoroughly enough so that it would be safe for new fish? Nothing in this tank would return - all the plants are plastic and have sharp edges. Perhaps the only thing to return is a plastic cave. Whats the best way to wash that? Also - all of the gravel is going to be thrown away because I continue to find new snails in this tank. I do not want those in my betta tank.

Any advice is appreciated. I did my best to keep on top of my water readings when I was in town and performed water changes and medicated them faithfully. You live and you learn, I suppose. At least now I can start out with all of this new found knowledge rather than trying to play catch-up!

COBettaCouple

It sounds like they have/had body fungus and the survivor needs treated with clean water, some good anti-fungus antibiotics and vitachem.

There is a DIY divider post here at fishlore and you can buy them at the pet stores. You could clean everything thoroughly with hot water or a water/bleach mix.. i think 10:1 ratio there, but let someone else confirm this who has cleaned a tank that way.

We're sorry to hear of the loss of your 2 mollys and swordtail.

Muffymouse

the 10:1 water/bleach ratio is right but it is best after cleaning with that solution to allow it to dry in a sunny place. If sunny is an issue for you (like it is here on the west coast of WA and OR, constantly overcast and rainy) you may want to try cleaning with hot water and vinegar. I used distilled vinegar and it seems to have worked great and is less toxic to your fish should there be some kind of residue. As for your cave that may or may not be returning, you could boil it and that should kill anything nasty on it. Best wishes and warm fuzzies to your sick molly.

armadillo

Really sorry to hear about your mollies. That's awful.

Sorry to butt in on this thread, but I have a very closely related question: how long would disease stick around in an empty tank?

My boyfriend's grandmother is giving us her old tank (no idea what the size is. I'll know in an hour! Oh sweet expectation) and it hasn't been used in, like, 30 years (needless to say I'll need to buy a modern heater and filter for it.).

I was wondering how long the 'bad' bacteria and other toxic stuff would survive in such a tank? Wouldn't it be enough to give it a really good clean and a few long soak/rinses in warm water? I really hesitate to use bleach or vinegar and I"d love to be able to avoid it.

COBettaCouple

I think that a lot (if not most or all) of the bad bacteria is like the good.. without water and a food source, they die off quickly. Some kinds might be able to lie dormant for a while, but i don't know if that's a realistic concern or not. Either way, a long empty tank should just need a good cleaning with hot water (and vinegar) if desired, then cleaned and dried as muffymouse suggested. I'd feel safe using it then.

If you have any doubts about the tank integrity, fill it with water in a tub or outside on a sidewalk, porch, etc (someplace a leak wouldn't mean a mess to clean up) and let it sit for a day or 2, checking it for any leaks.

armadillo

Oh the disapopintment. The tank in question was about 30L, had metal rands and....... floor! The metal was all rusty, and there was a crack on one of the panes. Ah well, at least she got it out of her basement for the next bin collection.

Good news is a friend of a friend gave up on fish-keeping and was practically giving away her 72L tank, so we got that one today. Will put your tank-cleaning advice to good use and again, thanks a lot for the info.