Sterilising a tank after sickness

[Lilthuglet]

I'm looking for options on sterilising tank and equipment after a fish death, probably from columaris.

I plan to empty the tank, then bleach the tank, filter (bio substrate and sponges will be replaced) and thermometer, rinse well and leave them for at least a month dry before re-using.

I think the plants and substrate will just have to go, but I am wondering about wood and decorations. I can bleach the decor, but would boiling and drying the wood be enough?

 

[MacZ]

Complete overkill.

Just leave the tank running for some weeks without fish (if necessary dose ferts for plants and add ammonia or fishfood for the beneficial bacteria in the filter.

Columnaris comes with new fish and goes with the last fish in the tank. It is not necessary to completely restart a tank that had it, as long as there are no fish in it for a while. Also most cases of transmission of columnaris are either due to scavenging on carrion or insufficient waterchanges while more than one fish is battling it.

If any a case of Mycobacterium might warrant taking down a tank for a restart but that's pretty much it.

 

[A201]

IMO, no need to completely tear down the tank.
Make a big 50% water change & keep the vacant tank & filters up & running. Begin to carefully restock after three weeks.
Columnaris is a naturally occurring bacteria in the FW aquarium environment. It's an opportunistic bug that only preys on injured or weakened fish.
Even if the tank is bleached, once the tank is rebooted, Columnaris will eventually repopulate the environment.