Mycobacterium Cleanup

[Sea Gull]

Have been keeping fish for just a few years, and this has been a bit overwhelming for my first disease outbreak.

Still don't know what caused it, no new fish had been introduced and there was no nitrogen buildup. One of my fish must've been incubating it for some time. Their were no signs of illness or lethargy, no ulcers, so we were checking for heater malfunctions, pH fluctuations, pretty much everything else. It was only when one of the larger fish got a crooked spine we worked it out, diagnosis was confirmed by professional biopsy.

 

There's only really cleanup left to do now. Have a fish-less display and hospital tank full of Mycobacterium water. Does anyone know best way to sterilize the tank, and safely dispose of substrate and plants? It's going to be important not to release it into the environment, there is a nearby frog breeding area and would like to protect it from introduced infections.

[livingart]

Vinegar may help your situation https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/02/140225101501.htm#:~:text=Summary%3A,international team of researchers reports.

[Caryl]

I use salt to sterilise tanks. Not sure if it is good enough for what you need to do though.
Our local Recycling Centre has a hazardous waste disposal area where you can take old paint etc so if you have one of those, I would contact them to see if they will take your substrate and plants. Well done for protecting the environment! I wish more would think before disposing of unwanted stuff.

[Sea Gull]

Thank you livingart, that's perfect.

M. marinum didn't seem to be mentioned in the study, so might need to poke around a bit to figure out what concentrations needed to kill it, but some of the stronger cleaning vinegars should work for any strain.

 

Thank you as well Caryl, that's a great idea. They should be able to take it, but hopefully even if they can't they'll be able to give me some advice.