Prepping an old tank for new fish

[Kellbot]

A few months ago, all three of my friend's goldfish mysteriously died.
Their water levels were ok, and they all went within a few days of
each other. My friend considers himself a very responsible pet owner
and took it pretty hard, and gave up on fish.

I now have his 10 gallon tank, complete with light, filter, heater,
and other cool stuff. Since we don't know what killed the old fish,
what sort of precautions do I need to take? Everything has been dry
for the past few months, and I just finished cleaning everything off
with scalding hot water and a new sponge. Is that enough? I also have
various anti-fungal and anti-algae tablets that he threw in with the
rest of the stuff. Is there something specific I should treat the
water with (in addition to the chlorine remover)?

I plan to set everything up and let it run for a few days to make sure
everything is running smoothly. Once everything's up to snuff, Bob the
Oranda will have a new home :)

[Bill Stock]

"Kellbot" > wrote in message
om...
> A few months ago, all three of my friend's goldfish mysteriously died.
> Their water levels were ok, and they all went within a few days of
> each other. My friend considers himself a very responsible pet owner
> and took it pretty hard, and gave up on fish.
>
> I now have his 10 gallon tank, complete with light, filter, heater,
> and other cool stuff. Since we don't know what killed the old fish,
> what sort of precautions do I need to take? Everything has been dry
> for the past few months, and I just finished cleaning everything off
> with scalding hot water and a new sponge. Is that enough? I also have
> various anti-fungal and anti-algae tablets that he threw in with the
> rest of the stuff. Is there something specific I should treat the
> water with (in addition to the chlorine remover)?
>
> I plan to set everything up and let it run for a few days to make sure
> everything is running smoothly. Once everything's up to snuff, Bob the
> Oranda will have a new home :)

You might want to clean it with some bleach and water (10%). Make sure it's
plain bleach, not lemon scented. Also watch out for the sponges with
fungicide/soap added. Rinse everything with water after the bleach bath and
dechlorinate well.

If Bob has a rubber duck or other ornament you might want to put it in the
new tank while you wait for it to cycle. The idea is to give the
ammonia/nitrate eating bacteria a head start in the new tank by transferring
them from the old tank.

[[email protected]]

the water wasnt all right. 10 gallons is too small for 3 goldfish.
http://www.mu.edu/~buxtoni/puregold/care/care1.htm#essentials
>
>"Kellbot" > wrote in message
om...
>> A few months ago, all three of my friend's goldfish mysteriously died.
>> Their water levels were ok, and they all went within a few days of
>> each other.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

[Kellbot]

oh, no, they were in separate tanks.
which is why it was really odd.

wrote in message >...
> the water wasnt all right. 10 gallons is too small for 3 goldfish.
> http://www.mu.edu/~buxtoni/puregold/care/care1.htm#essentials
> >
> >"Kellbot" > wrote in message
> om...
> >> A few months ago, all three of my friend's goldfish mysteriously died.
> >> Their water levels were ok, and they all went within a few days of
> >> each other.
>
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
> http://puregold.aquaria.net/
> www.drsolo.com
> Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
> compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
> endorsements or recommendations I make.

[Donald K]

Poisons from the air?

Spraying? Painting? in the area...

New cleaning product in the bathroom/kitchen?

New soap next to the sink?

-D

Kellbot wrote:

> oh, no, they were in separate tanks.
> which is why it was really odd.
>
> wrote in message
> >...
>> the water wasnt all right. 10 gallons is too small for 3 goldfish.
>> http://www.mu.edu/~buxtoni/puregold/care/care1.htm#essentials
>> >
>> >"Kellbot" > wrote in message
>> om...
>> >> A few months ago, all three of my friend's goldfish mysteriously
>> >> died. Their water levels were ok, and they all went within a few
>> >> days of each other.

--
"One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem,
see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable
words." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

[Kellbot]

...snip..
> > I plan to set everything up and let it run for a few days to make sure
> > everything is running smoothly. Once everything's up to snuff, Bob the
> > Oranda will have a new home :)
>
> You might want to clean it with some bleach and water (10%). Make sure it's
> plain bleach, not lemon scented. Also watch out for the sponges with
> fungicide/soap added. Rinse everything with water after the bleach bath and
> dechlorinate well.
>
> If Bob has a rubber duck or other ornament you might want to put it in the
> new tank while you wait for it to cycle. The idea is to give the
> ammonia/nitrate eating bacteria a head start in the new tank by transferring
> them from the old tank.

Allright, thanks :) I stole one of Bob's plastic plants. He wasn't too
happy about it, but hopefully it has enough biobugs to get things
started in the new tank.

Should I wait for the tank to finish cycling before moving Bob? He
seems OK in his fishbowl (it has an undergravel filter, and he's very
small) for now.