After a fish dies...

Question
My fish is very sick, and definitely going to die, no amount of antibiotics, injections, or surgery will cure him.  He came to me sick, and I knew it, so it's not a store's fault(I got it from a friend). He's a shubunkin, about six inches including the tail fin.  Knowing full well there was nothing I could do to save his life, I went on caring for him to the best of my ability, cleaning the tank, regular even feedings, changing the filter, pH was good, tank size was fine, ammonia levels were perfect, I made 25% water changes, and generally just loving him(strangely the power of love doesn't cure). Now here's my question; after he passes, how should I go about cleaning the tank in preparation for another fish?  Since I didn't get this fish first hand, I feel like this sick fish was a good starter fish for me.  I have a feeling he's going to die during the night, and I've just put a filter in a few hours ago.

Answer
Hi Katherine;

Oh, that's a shame. Poor guy. I'm so sorry you have both had to go through such trauma. He's had you to love him through it and that's important, no matter what the outcome. All we can do is do our best. Anyway...

Usually just a good rinse of the tank, decorations and filter parts in warm water is enough. If you think he may have had a contagious disease you can add a little bit of household bleach to the tank and let the filter circulate it around for a couple of hours. I use about 1/4 cup of bleach for every ten gallons of tank water. Throw away the used filter media (pads, carbon, foam, etc.) and buy new. It absorbs the bleach too much and it may not go away.

Once the bleach has circulated around for a couple of hours, drain the tank, rinse everything over and over and refill the tank with fresh water again. Add a triple dose of water conditioner that removes chlorine from tap water and let it run for a week or so with no fish and the lid off to be sure all the bleach has evaporated. Put in new filter media and it's good to go. It has to go through the break-in period all over again though. Here is a link to my page about it to help you;

http://www.xanga.com/Expert_Fish_Help

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins