Richard

I feel as if I've been to **** and back..within the last few weeks I've lost almost all the inhabitants in my 55 gal. tank#2 to a variety of diseases(fungus,dropsy,fin-rot..seems like a TB outbreak happened there)..this happened in spite of regular weekly water-changes and gravel vacuuming. In one of my earlier posts I asked for advice on treating fungus,and was using the recommended medicine( Fungus Clear Tank Buddies),when dropsy and fin-rot decimated the survivors!In addition,I lost 4 Emporer-Tetras and 2 Harlequins in a ten gallon tank for what looks like the same reasons as the bigger tank.
I've put these losses down to a number of things,among them several power-cuts and very hot temperatures we've been experiencing in Trinidad over the last few weeks..and I certainly haven't ruled out Human-error on my part since I'm still learning..anyway I've decided to get rid of the bigger tank(for space purposes),thoroughly sterilize the ten gallon tank along with some of the plastic plants and ornaments I kept for sentimental reasons so the survivors can have a clean home.
I've read several previous posts that mention using both a 1:20 and a 1:19 bleach/water solution(which would be better for a 10 gal. tank?)..also how long should I soak plastic plants?..Ornaments(ceramic I think)..and the tank itself?..Any help would be deeply appreciated.
P.S. the survivors seem to be doing ok in a quarantine tank.

Butterfly

Either will sterilize the tank, just remember to soak the tank in dechlorinated water over night then empty and refill with dechlorinated water.
What have you got left thats going in the 10 G?
Your tanks were a little over stocked, think water quality had something to do with all those disease outbreaks ?
Carol

Richard

Between the 55gal. and 10gal. tanks,the survivors are 2 Swordtails,3 Harlequins,and 2 Corydoras..water quality may be a factor,but I did do weekly changes and dechlorinate each time.Since the extremely hot temperatures of the last couple of weeks I've been reading 10 degree temp. differences in the tank water between nighttime and midday,when it's hottest..could that also be a factor?..and when you throw in several power outages which occurred at night and during days when I was at work,I'm left wondering if any of the above contributed to the almost total decimation of two tanks of what were previously healthy fish..I can't count how many sleepless nights I've had trying to remember everything I did prior to and during the outbreak in the tanks to see where I might've messed up..and I know that there must've been something I overlooked at some point..it'll come back to me soon enough.

Butterfly

It's possible the power outages(is that a word?), and sudden temp changes could have made them more inclined towards disease, especially since they were over crowded to start with. More frequent water changes(especially after poweroutages) will help. Just don't try to crowd everything into one tank.
Remember to fishless cycle the tank after sterilizing it.
Carol