cleaning question?

Question

i have 3 tanks. one tropical and two coldwater, a small 5 gallon with betta and oto and some shrimp, a 10 gall trop with 3 platies and one baby peacock eel, and a coldwater 29 gal natvie tank. iwas wondering if i should even use the same gravel vac on my native tank or get a new one. i dont want my other two tanks to get sick from same water as my native tank. should i just wash it really good with tap after i clean the native tank, or should i do some dish soap and make sure i clean it good of all the soap out?

Thanks

Answer 1

Smart thinking! Equipment is a good way to spread disease. I would just wash it off really well with hot water and dry it as best you can between tanks (tropical ones too!). If you really want to be extra sure, wipe everything you can reach with alcohol and let it dry, but that's really over kill, the hot water will kill what wiping doesn't remove. Don't use soap though, it can leave traces too easily that could harm your fish.

MM

Answer 2

do not use bleach or any other cleaning products. It may be a good idea to get another vacumn, but it is not necessary.

to clean ANYTHING related to your fish tank use somethng like vinegar. this will be as effective as any household cleaning product you could use, but it wont leave behind harmful residues. Simply let the vaumn or decorations, etc, soak for a bit in the vinegar and then rinse well with tap water

Answer 3

To be on the safe side, get anouther gravel vacuum. However, you can try just cleaning the one you have in between. DON'T USE SOAP THOUGH! Just rinse it well with water. The soap residues (you can't ever get rid of them completely) are very harmful to the fish. Tap water will be just fine. :-)

Answer 4

to prevent cross contamination rince in bleach water then plain water

Answer 5

NO SOAP! I'd use separate equipment.