Had A Bad Start, What To Do Now?

[OneOnion]

Hi, new fishkeeper here, horrible start .

So I got a ten gallon tank, set it up with live plants and gravel, and put 6 black neon tetras in it a few days later(I didn't know how important a fishless cycle was, what happened was I got frustrated on finding ammonia that I just wanted to start adding the fish.). Then the got infected with ich, and one got bloated and died(didn't know what happened there, but it didn't have to do with the ich). And then a few days later one died of the ich. So I got discouraged and returned the fish(and the pet store euthanasiad(sp) them in a safe way with clove oil or something), and found ammonia(It was in a old kitchen chemistry set in the basement why didn't I look there in the first place!) What do I do now to sterilize the aquarium before , and the things in it so that I be sure the ich is gone? Is there ich in the filter media, and do I have to rinse that? Thanks.

 

[Honeythorn]

Since you have no fish now, and have ammonia to do a fishless cycle then you may as well start over from scratch.

Clean the whole tank with hot water with a little dash of white vinegar added. Rinse several times with plain hot water to remove all possible traces of vinegar.

Wash your live plants under the tap and put them in a bowl or tub of water while you re-set the tank up.

Wash your gravel, any ornaments, filter and media to make sure all traces of Ich are gone.

Then re-set the tank up, add your gravel ect back in, fill with water, add your plants, filter and heater and switch the lot on. Then you can start your fishless cycle.

Make sure your ammonia is pure ammonia and nothing else added. Shake the bottle, if it foams at the top it may have additives and is unsuitable. Pure ammonia does not foam/fizz .

 

[LiveYourLife]

and one got bloated and died(didn't know what happened there, but it didn't have to do with the ich)

That was most likely Dropsy

 

[GuppyGoddess]

2nd to what honeythorn said, except I'd toss the gravel. It's cheap to replace and one less thing you have to concern yourself with still having ich on it.

 

[OneOnion]

Ok, thanks. Also, my mom said it was ok to replace the gravel, but I wanted to know if I could boil the gravel and save money(gravel here is kind of expensive). Most of the gravel is painted black, though. Would the boiling cause problems with the paint?

 

[Honeythorn]

Boiling isn't nessescary, the hot (tap)water and white vinegar mix and plenty of rinsing under a blasting tap/hose is all you need.

 

[waterdrop]

I agree, boiling shouldn't be necessary, just plenty of patience with all these steps to be sure things are cleaned and rinsed well. I hope there's nothing strange about the ammonia from the old chem set. Get your mom to wave a whiff of at her nose and tell you if she thinks its regular strong ammonia. If there's doubt, perhaps you should search out plain household ammonia as most other members do at the hardware store or mop&broom sections. The members can help you will likely places depending on your location.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[OneOnion]

I agree, boiling shouldn't be necessary, just plenty of patience with all these steps to be sure things are cleaned and rinsed well. I hope there's nothing strange about the ammonia from the old chem set. Get your mom to wave a whiff of at her nose and tell you if she thinks its regular strong ammonia. If there's doubt, perhaps you should search out plain household ammonia as most other members do at the hardware store or mop&broom sections. The members can help you will likely places depending on your location.

~~waterdrop~~

Well, it says 'AMMONIUM HYDROXIDE' and then some safety info and that it is 2 oz. and is a 4.5% soln. so I guess it's just ammonia. But it has some white flake thingies in it, they kinda look like backwash . Does ammonia usually have that in it? I really hope it's normal because I was so frustrated with finding the correct ammonia.

EDIT: Oh no, it does kind of 'bubble' at the top for 5 seconds after I shake it, and then some puny bubbles that linger on the surface after that.

 

[waterdrop]

Yeah, might be questionable, plus that's a pretty low percentage, so I might go looking...

~~waterdrop~~

 

[OneOnion]

waterdrop- If it's a low percentage, all you have to do is raise the dosage, right? I used the ammonia measuring thing in the aquarium calculator and I got the dosage I needed.

One question, how much vinegar do I add to the water I use to clean the gravel? I'm about to clean it. Thanks.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, you're correct, you just squirt in more to reach your concentration, but I just still might go see if I could find some good cheap household ammonia (mine was extremely cheap) since you had those flakes in the old chemistry set ammonia -- no good reason on my part, just a thought.

I don't think the amount of vinegar matters much, just a splash as mentioned should be good.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Honeythorn]

For the vinegar, just a qiuck tip of the wrist. Just a glug will do.