# starting all over again



## kev747 (May 2, 2006)

Hi,I had all 5 of my 12 year old goldfish killed by popeye/Internal parasitic disease within a few weeks.My tank is now empty. 

What I want to ask is can I clean the gravel,rocks,plastic plants etc and start again or is all the decor contaminated and will I have to buy everything new and clean the tank to within an inch of its life before I get any more fish. 

Thanks.


----------



## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I would add bleach to the tank, let it cycle through the gravel, filters, decor, tank and all for a few days then drain it, refill it with water, drain it, let it dry, wait til bleach smell goes away, then refill it and dechlor heavily. It might be less work to buy new everything. I did this to one tank, and the new fish didn't get sick, but I didn't have an internal parasite, I still don't know what those fish had. Theorectically, once you treat for what killed the fish, the tank should be fine, but if you don't know what they had, how can u be sure? Decor and plants can go through the dishwasher (but the plants lose their color). Once you kill everything, of course, its like a new tank and you have to cycle it again or take a filter from an established, disease-free tank.


----------



## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

Since the tank is empty I would probably be best to empty it and clean the stuff in smaller buckets.

Soak it in deluted bleach solution and rince it out and then let it sit with some dechlor and water overnight. 

Its always better to be safe than sorry.


----------

