How to Disinfect tank

[Chiclid addict]

I have a tank that had about 6discus in it but in June I lost 3 of them to discus plague and then it went dormant until about a week ago at this point I’ve done everything I could but I only have 1 left and it’s not doing so well and I think im gonna have to restart the tank so im wondering how I should go about that should I throw everything away except the tank or can the other stuff be treated?

Edited November 18, 2021 by Chiclid addict

[Flumpweesel]

Sorry about your discus that must be awful to deal with.  

Most things in life can be cleaned you just have to decide if you want the work or not some things in may be easier to replace you will have to make the call item by item. 

If I want to be sure I have killed off anything from a tank I scrub it till it looks like new with (if it need soap I use it)  then I will rinse a couple of times and use something like alcohol or peroxide to remove any residue because they will break down safely. Then I leave it dry as most things that live in water need the water so drying is very useful.

Obviously this is used for tanks hardscape and equipment. Sponges and media I would chuck and start again.  

Substrate I use gravel I wash and dry it in small batches. 

 

You would probably kill everything by just drying it out, but to my mind if I'm going to the trouble to break it down that far then I may as well get it all shiny again while I'm at it also it won't smell odd while its drying if its clean.

 

[Guppysnail]

Gravel and wood dump rapidly boiling water onto and let sit until cool rinse repeat. Everything else I clean thoroughly then soak in straight hydrogen peroxide and rinse with incredibly hot water after cleaning with peroxide. Media I toss. Plants are misted with straight hydrogen peroxide let sit 30 seconds rinse repeat and put in a tank alone for a few months for low risk issues high risk hard/untreatable issues they are thrown out as not worth the risk. The tank also gets h2o2 r&r. If it’s pleasant I sit in direct outdoor sunlight to dry.  I’m sorry this happened I do hope you are able to restart with no new issues.