How to Set Up a New Aquarium After Disease Killed Former Fish

Losing your aquarium fish to disease is tough. Many people are at a loss as to how to set up their aquarium after their fish have died due to a disease because they are afraid of contaminating the new fish. Setting up a fish aquarium after a fish disease decimates your community can be done as long as key pieces of equipment are replaced.

Instructions

    • 1

      Thoroughly clean the tank. The tank you have, no matter if it is glass or acrylic, can be reused. First, wash every square inch of the tank with warm water and soap. Rinse thoroughly. Then spray the tank with a mild bleach solution. Allow the solution to sit for 10 minutes, and thoroughly rinse the tank again. Allow the tank to dry completely. Each of the decorations in your tank should be cleaned in the same manner. Live plants will have to be discarded.

    • 2

      Purchase new equipment. You will need to replace filters, filter media and gravel. These are all items that will harbor traces of bacteria which can recontaminate your tank.

    • 3

      Rewash the tank and decorations. This time, wash the tank and decorations with only warm water. This is to ensure that there are no remaining traces of soap or bleach on the tank. Also rinse all the new equipment to remove dust and particulate matter.

    • 4

      Place the gravel and decorations into your tank. Line the bottom of the tank with gravel and place your decorations in the tank. If you have purchased new live plants, rinse these in water and place them in the tank as well.

    • 5

      Fill the tank with water. In order to prevent disturbing your plants, gravel and decorations, place a small saucer in the center of the tank and direct the water stream to land on the saucer. Use room temperature tap water. Now is also the time to treat the water to remove chlorine and chloramines by adding a water treatment designed to neutralize them while you fill the tank.

    • 6

      Install the filter and heater. Now you can install the tank's hardware. Install the new filter per the manufacturer's directions and rinse the filter media in tank water before installing in the filter. Install the heater per the manufacturer's directions. Start the filter and heater and turn on the lights.

    • 7

      Allow the aquarium to cycle and add fish. You can add bacteria cultures to the water to speed up the cycling process and establish the necessary beneficial bacteria in the system. It is important to add fish at a rate of one to two at a time to allow the filter system to adjust to the load.