# How do you clean a tank after ich killed off your fish



## giants1249er

My 2 goldfish died due to an outbreak of ich. How do you go about cleaning the infected tank and getting rid of the ich? Do you have to get rid of the filter with the good bacteria so you don't infect the newer fish and get a new filter and start all over again with the cycling process? Thanks for your advice.


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## Ladayen

You dont get rid of ich. It's always there. Cranking the temp up(around 85 degrees) will put it back into it's dormant state. You should still do a good water change though, to help get rid of some of the extra free floating ich. As to getting rid of your filter media, thats your call. You may have to cycle your tank over again though. No need to get rid of the filter itself.

Ich is caused by stress. I would guess that your goldfish were cramped and this allowed the ich to grow. Goldfish will grow over a foot long and require a 75g, more with 2 in there.


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## emc7

Ich is caused by an organism. Even though outbreaks are triggered by stress and most fish from stores are carrying it, you can get rid of it. I would tend to 'nuke' the tank and kill everything and start over. But it might be possible to preserve the filter by feeding the empty tank as you do a long course of treatment with an ich med.


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## giants1249er

Anyone try Potassium Permanganate? It was suggested by someone from another fish forum.


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## lohachata

raise the temp to at least 86 degrees...get some aquarisol..double dose the tank twice a week for 2-3 weeks.. do no water changes during that time...leave all of your filtration and such intact..
after treating do a 50% water change every day for the next 4 days...you can also use aquarisol as a weekly prophylaxis to take care of a number of diseases and parasites..


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## emc7

potassium permanganate is a strong oxidizer that can stain things. It might well get rid of the ich, but it is equivalent to using bleach or hydrogen peroxide, it is a "nuke the tank and start over" solution. Loha's suggestion is more likely to let you avoid having to 'cycle' the tank again. The only thing I would do differently would be a 100% water change after treatment. I like to have 0 everything (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) before you add fish.


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