Desiccation as sanitation

[Sleepydoc]

I'm in the middle of a tank-transfer quarantine for a Coris Wrasse and am rapidly accumulating used air stones (I'm using @Humblefish 's modified method that's supposed to cover velvet as well so I have a total of 6 transfers).

I'm rinsing everything with citric acid, then chlorinated tap water, then drying it between transfers. I hate to throw away the air stones (or anything) unnecessarily so I'm planning on soaking them in citric acid, then drying them. My thought is that between the acidity of the citric acid, the hypotonicity of fresh water and desiccation, anything bad should be dead. Is there anything that would actually survive this?

My other idea was to soak in hot (115-120º F/45-50º C) tap water.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Neobenedenia fluke eggs are highly resistant to almost everything. FW keeps them from hatching, but then they can hatch out. Desiccation can kill them, but inside an airstone, that could take longer than expected.

I would soak in 7% hydrogen peroxide instead of citric acid.

Jay

 

[Malcontent]

Studies on cleaning air diffusers in wastewater treatment recommend bleach for organics then acid for scale. I doubt anything can survive that.

 

[gentlefish]

You are probably onto something....Journal of Fish Diseases 2005, 28, 157–164 Effects of temperature, salinity, desiccation and chemical treatments on egg embryonation and hatching success of Benedenia seriolae (Monogenea: Capsalidae), a parasite of farmed Seriola spp. I Ernst. "Some treatments with desiccation, heat and ethanol were effective in preventing all B. seriolae eggs from hatching (Table 2). Desiccation for a period of 3 min or more prevented hatching completely, but 2% of eggs developed and hatched when rehydrated after desiccation for 90 or 120 s (Table 3)."

 

[Sleepydoc]

Neobenedenia fluke eggs are highly resistant to almost everything. FW keeps them from hatching, but then they can hatch out. Desiccation can kill them, but inside an airstone, that could take longer than expected.

I would soak in 7% hydrogen peroxide instead of citric acid.

Jay

Your point on the time required is well taken - an air stone would take quite some time to dry, especially deeper in, and you can't really tell if it's dry.

I got a 6 -pack of them from PetSmart, so I have enough for the entire tank-transfer cycle. My plan is to put them in the oven at 200º for 20 minutes or so, then let them sit a month before using them again. That should be adequate. I suppose I could just hook the air pump up and let it run for a few days - kinda like a fan blowing from the inside.