Unbelievable...

[dual45s]

I was out of town this weekend and came home to find a pretty nasty scene. Turns out the wife had a friend over who brought the new baby and little girl. Long story short, we have the foaming dishsoap and while the little girl was mildly ignored while the new baby was oochie-coo'd over, she thought the soap was the coolest thing ever. "The fishies were in a bath but there was no soap." She got onto a footstool and pumped the soap into my 20gal freshwater tropical tank. I know this isn't the several thousand dollar saltwater travesty that some of you have faced, but I liked my 2 fish.
I've heard that once soap gets into your tank, there's no way to completely clean it out. Does this mean my entire setup is toast? Filter, heater, gravel, tank...etc? I'd like to restart a tank, but if my current equipment will just continue to kill fish there's no point. Thanks all.

 

[earlybird]

That SUCKS. I don't know if you'll get all the soap out? Might try beefing up your filtration anf run some carbon for the next couple of weeks and monitor your tank. It may be okay but I don't know.

 

[michaeltx]

MAN THAT DOES SUCK !!!
I would throw out the rock and get new as far as everything else a good vinager wash will get rid of everything in there. throw out and replace the filter pads and then clean everything real good and you will be able to use it again. if it was a copper med that leaches into the silicone. I would make the kids mom replace this stuff for not watching her kid in your home maybe then she will keep a closer eye on he kid when she is at others people homes.
HTH
Mike

 

[dual45s]

Thanks Mike, I hope it works. The mom is incredibly sweet and really won't stop apologizing. It's hard to be mad when she feels so bad about it. My wife is another story entirely (she thinks fish are stupid, I tell her that a hundred purses is stupid but that doesn't get me anywhere). Looking to the bright side. Anyone have any ideas for a 20 gal?

 

[rara12]

personally love fancy goldfish lol, have a 12g with them (well they're stretching ther fins in a 100g turtle pond for a little bit) But i love them. But a nce school of some of the fast paced bards would be cool. Tiger, Melon, Black ruby barbs (my fav), tons of others. Endless options that will cost you a total of like $20 for all the fish. Fresh water isnt completely beat.

 

[dual45s]

I'd prefer one or two medium fish to a group of small ones. I like planted aquariums, and I guess I'd prefer somewhat aggressive over passive. I don't know if anything fitting those description can be happy in a 20. This may be the beginning of a large tank project that uses the 20 for a sump. We'll see. I'd be willing to hear any suggestions, especially with pictures of ideas. Thanks everyone, I don't post here often, but I lurk almost constantly.

 

[surfinusa]

I would do neon tetras and some glowlight tetras, those are some of my favorites.

 

[teen]

use some bleach to clean out the tank. then put some declorinator in and let it air out outside. that should get rid of the soap.