Disinfecting your fish net between tanks: what a study measured
Published by Planète Pets · managing editor: Clément Lacaille · how our guides are written
Owning several aquariums quickly raises a question about nets: does each tank really need its own net, or does disinfecting between uses do the job? A study by Collymore, Porelli, Lieggi and Lipman, published in 2015 in the Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science, compared several net-cleaning methods used to capture zebrafish at a research facility (, JAALAS 53(6):657-660). Guidance on capture equipment is gathered in the fish accessories section, and the stress-free handling method is in our guide on nets and fish handling.
Contents · 5 sections
How effectiveness was measured
The researchers tested four chemical disinfectants plus a plain tap-water rinse, with soak times of 5 or 30 minutes. Effectiveness was assessed with an ATP assay, a method that measures in relative light units the amount of organic and microbial residue remaining on the net, backed up by a check for bacterial regrowth in culture.
What worked, and what fell short
Two protocols came out effective, with at least a 90% reduction in relative light units and no detectable bacterial regrowth: a 30-minute soak in sodium hypochlorite (diluted household bleach), and a 5- or 30-minute soak in a mixture of potassium peroxymonosulfate and sodium chloride, the disinfectant family that includes the Virkon Aquatic commonly sold for fishkeeping. By contrast, a plain tap-water rinse, with no disinfectant, did not meaningfully reduce the residual load.
What this study does not show
It was carried out at a zebrafish research facility, with nets and pathogens specific to that setting, not in a multi-species home aquarium where the parasites of concern (fish lice, worms, protozoans) often differ. The concentrations and contact times tested are those of a laboratory protocol: reproduce them at home with care, following the dilution instructions on the product used and rinsing thoroughly before any contact with tank water, rather than copying the dosage outright.
What this means with several aquariums
The most actionable point is a negative one: rinsing a net in plain water between tanks disinfects nothing, it only dilutes. For anyone running a quarantine tank or several separate aquariums, a dedicated net per tank remains the simplest solution; failing that, a soak in a diluted disinfectant followed by a thorough rinse before any contact with tank water limits the risk of carrying parasites from one aquarium to another.
Frequently asked questions
Does bleach damage the net's mesh?
The study does not measure equipment wear, only disinfection effectiveness; a thorough rinse after soaking remains essential before reuse, for the net as much as for the fish.
Is simple air-drying enough between uses?
This study does not test drying alone; it only shows that a tap-water rinse without disinfectant was not enough. Find all our guides on the fishkeeping hub.
An accessory from our shop for this use: Stick-on digital thermometer for aquarium and terrarium glass (€18.90) · the whole shop
This guide is part of Planète Pets’s Fishkeeping universe. Our advice is general in nature: for any health concern, your veterinarian remains the only reference.