Overdose

Question
Hi

In my absence a colleague has killed all the fish in our office fish tank by trying to cure an outbreak of whitespot.  Instead of the normal dose, far too much has been put in (I can tell because the bottle is empty) and I have returned to work to an empty tank with dark blue water.  My question is how do I now re setup the tank?  Do you have any useful tips with regard to the filter etc?  Thanks

Answer
Good morning Faye, thank you for your question.

Yikes. Dark blue water? If Methylene blue is what was used (considered to be a very safe medication) and your office tank is glass, your seams will be stained permanently. If it's acrylic, it will need a thorough washing with a 10:1 bleach solution. Several rinses will be necessary to get out the coloring. You can clean the glass with 4 parts white distilled vinegar and 1 part water from then on.

There is really nothing to be done to save the beneficial bacteria in the gravel. Unlikely, but it may still contain tomites and definitely will contain medication residue, so it will need to be rinsed in hot tap water, no bleach necessary since the tap water already has sanitizer in it.

The filter will need to be taken apart and soaked in hot water. If your filter is one piece with parts such as an impeller, intake tube etc, the main part that hangs outside of the tank cannot be submerged of course, and will need to be rinsed out with hot tap water several times. If you have an AquaClear filter, it can be entirely submerged if the motor is unscrewed. After the soak, let it air dry.

After the air dry, run the filter using a Poly Filter pad cut to size. You will find this in the fish department of a pet store or a local fish store. It is white, changes color depending on what it absorbs. When it turns black it is time to replace it. After it is exhausted I would run a high quality carbon in the filter for several weeks - a bag of ChemiPure would be my choice, but regular carbon will do.

I just realized that copper meds also have a blue color. Yikes! If what was ODed was copper, I would run Poly Filter in the filter for a few months. A marine tank will be devastated by copper poisoning, I am hoping you have a freshwater tank. Good luck with this difficult situation.

Next time you have an ich outbreak, slowly raise the temperature to 82 degrees (possibly up to 84, will depend on the fish) and add aquarium salt before you resort to meds.

There's more about it here:
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ich.php

Feel free to write back, I am so sorry for your loss.
Nicole