Sterilizing Rocks/Sand and Eradicating Ich from Corals

[Iannotti16]

So I started my first reef tank 3 months ago. I made all the rookie mistakes, no QT, rushed my aquascape, bought a garbage stand that I hate etc. so I want to start fresh after buying a Powder Blue Tang that ended up infecting my tank and fish with ich.

So I am not sure how to go about sterilizing my rock/sand and the tank so hopefully someone has good advice or a link to a thread that does. The second question is, while I know corals and inverts can't get ich, but they could carry the parasite, is there anyway to make sure I do not reintroduce ich into the new system when I put the corals back in (after cycle obviously) or is the only way to QT in a fishless system for months?

Thank you in advance for the help.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I usually sterilize tanks with 400 ppm of plain bleach. It is difficult to rinse out afterwards though. Tap water will kill ich after 24 hours, but won’t kill fluke eggs.
I would run the tank fishless for 45 days after it has been cycled and the corals returned to it. That coincides with a good quarantine for your new fish! (30 days copper and two weeks prazi).
Jay

 

[Iannotti16]

So I do have concerns with using any amount of bleach. Would soaking the rock and sand in tap water for 24 hours then let it dry in the sun kill just about everything?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

That will take care of protozoans just fine. It won't eliminate bacterial spores or fluke eggs. My usual reason for sterilizing tanks is due to Mycobacterium (fish tuberculosus) so that's why I use bleach. It is a hassle though!

Jasy

 

[Iannotti16]

Guess I will have my work cut out for me then. Thanks for the response Jay appreciate it.

 

[TeriLynne]

I recently started a 29 gal. tank with just some inexpensive tetras and rasbora.. I used black sand as my base.. today i noticed ich. I placed fish in quarantine tanks.. (small, easy to clean). The guys at petsmart advised me to replace the sand instead of attempting to treat it.. I’ve removed all the plants, the cartridge from the filter, the ornaments… so it’s just the heater and the sand left in the tank. Is there anyway to successfully treat the sand? I just bought it and it want cheap… I hate to throw it out.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I recently started a 29 gal. tank with just some inexpensive tetras and rasbora.. I used black sand as my base.. today i noticed ich. I placed fish in quarantine tanks.. (small, easy to clean). The guys at petsmart advised me to replace the sand instead of attempting to treat it.. I’ve removed all the plants, the cartridge from the filter, the ornaments… so it’s just the heater and the sand left in the tank. Is there anyway to successfully treat the sand? I just bought it and it want cheap… I hate to throw it out.

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

There is never any need to throw away sand or aquarium equipment due to ich. Air drying will kill it, but sand is tough to dry out all the way. You can use bleach at 500 ppm and then rinse it REALLY well.