Yes I have some java fern and stem plants in the back.
I think the parasite was Mycobacterium,
@GaryE said that on another thread. I will try vinegar for cleaning the tank. Can I do a 50/50 mix of white vinegar and water?
Have you decided whether or not to tear the tank down?
I have not been a fish keeper for very long, but I'm enthusiastic and do a lot of research.
I find that hydrogen peroxide (as
@Jamarrs suggested) is a good option for cleaning and sterilising. Used correctly, it will kill parasites, algae, pathogens, pests etc. You can fully sterilise a tank if you want to. It has anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties.
After 24 hours, hydrogen peroxide breaks down into water and oxygen. No risk of residual contamination, like with other methods.
I have never sterilised a tank, so I don't know too much about that specifically. You could either tear it down, sterilise the components and build it up again. I suppose you could also fill the tank with a peroxide solution, then change the water out. Not technically necessary because of the way peroxide breaks down.
I would be careful with the live plants, and "dip" those the way you would with new plants. You could leave them submerged in a solution for five minutes, then rinse them off.
Very high doses can harm the plant tissue and start to turn the leaves brown. This would be a very high dose though, a plant dip shouldn't harm your plants unless you leave them sitting in a solution for ages.
If I was in your shoes, I would take out the plants and let them sit in a peroxide solution. I would leave them in for 5 minutes, but no longer to avoid any discoloration.
(3% hydrogen peroxide, 2-3ml for one gallon of water.)
Then I would fill the tank with a weaker solution, 1ml of 3% hydrogen peroxide per gallon. Then I'd leave it alone for at least an hour. Technically it's not possible to leave it in the tank for too long because the peroxide will break down into just water and oxygen. With the solution I suggested, your beneficial bacteria
should survive just fine.
I'm an anxious person by nature, so I'd probably do a big water change before putting fish back in. If you have aeration and/or organic matter in the tank, then after 24h the hydrogen peroxide will have broken down. So a water change is not technically necessary. If you look at the study I linked below, you can see where they did this with fish in the tanks.
I would advise against using this method with fish in the tank, as certain fish species are allergic and/or will not tolerate the solution. Wait at least 24h or do a big water change.
I got mine in a pharmacy/chemist.
This is all my own research, so keep that in mind. Other more experienced fish keepers may have different opinions or experience with using peroxide
