Restart instead of fallow, sanitizing question

[Mr. GoodStuff]

Recently lost several fish due to disease which I believe to be velvet but clownfish may have also had brook. The handful of fish I have left were removed and put into a small holding tank and the display has been fallow for about 5 days now.

I only have about 6 small corals, a couple shrimp and a bunch of snails which I can easily remove and put in a separate tank. I’m also not 100% satisfied with my current aquascape so kind of figured this would be a good time to redo it.

I’m already planning on removing the rock (will clean it in a tub with bleach, rinse, then dry), corals and inverts. Will also remove as much sand as possible without removing the water. Can I leave the water in the tank and add bleach for about 24hrs (10:1 ratio) to sterilize the tank? Of course all the old water would get drained out afterwards, but will this sterilize everything, including like ceramic filter media, pumps, etc?

 

[Dierks]

This is what I do after I am done with my QT's so I cant see why you couldnt do it with your DT. Seems to me you are on the right track, of course as you already know once you wipe out your Beneficial bacteria you will simply have to re-cycle your tank. That too can be sped up with bacteria in a bottle so I say go for it! Redo your tank as I agree you are in the unfortunate situation anyways, might as well fall back in love with your tank!