Cross contamination (Newbie question)

GrumpyDaddy68 · Nov 27, 2019

Hi all,

I’m new in the hobby; my tank (DT) has been running a few months now (6-7).

I did run a QT tank with inverts for about 3-4 weeks (no cooper).

Now, I would like to clean the QT equipment, tank, filter, buckets, etc. for a future use. What would be the recommended way to do it; I hear that wash everything with water/vinager and let it dry for a few days.

Would that be enough to avoid cross-contamination?

Thanks,

LiveWire · Nov 27, 2019

I rinse mine out really well and store everything that I use for QT inside that tank so i dont use it anywhere else. I also lable the cords just in case. I keep filter floss in the back of the frag tank so if I decide to purchase I new fish i can jump start the system with that filter and some Dr Tim's one and only for a day and then its ready to go again.

GrumpyDaddy68 · Nov 27, 2019

Thanks!!

naterealbig · Nov 27, 2019

If it were me, I'd use a bleach solution. Not sure vinegar would kill all lifecycle stages of the Ich (or other) pathogen.

GrumpyDaddy68 · Nov 27, 2019

Shouldn’t all bacteria be killed after a few days with no water? I read that somewhere.

I heard about the bleach solution (10%)... my question would be, if I use equipment later; does the remains of bleach are toxic for fish or inverts?

thanks again,

naterealbig · Nov 27, 2019

GrumpyDaddy68 said:
Shouldn’t all bacteria be killed after a few days with no water? I read that somewhere.

I heard about the bleach solution (10%)... my question would be, if I use equipment later; does the remains of bleach are toxic for fish or inverts?

thanks again,

That may be true, but Ich is not a bacteria.

I think there may be some stages of the Ich parasite that become dormant with just a lack of water (could hatch later).

A water rinse with a few drops of prime would neutralize any chlorine. Let me see if i can dig up a reference for the dormant Ich....