Cleaning a New Tank

[Rhapsody]

I went to two garage sales today. The first one I came across a bag labeled "aquarium stuff." It had a few nice decorations, a gravel vacuum, and a filter (not positive if the filter works, but I figured the decorations alone were worth the $2 they were asking for it, lol.) The second one had a ten gallon tank for $5. So yay!

Anyway, this tank looks like it's been sitting out in the garage way too long. It's pretty dirty and gross. I'm in no rush to set up the tank...I want it to be nice and clean (and safe) first. Does anyone have any advice on cleaning it? I'm not sure plain old water and a rag will cut it.

I can hardly wait to go shopping for a filter, hood, and heater now!

 

[gadazobe]

I know a lot of people don't recommend soap for cleaning old tanks, but as yours is only a 10 galon, there shouldn't be any problem rinsing it very very very well. I sugest hot water, soap and elbow grease. Then rinse it a dozen times and when you think you've rinsed out all the soap, rinse it again

 

[Alien Anna]

Lucky thing! That was a great buy.

I've "recycled" old tanks before. The main ingredients for the clean up are:
1. White vinegar (particularly if you live in a hard water area and the tank is chalked up).
2. Methylene-blue (a fish-safe disinfectant, available from aquarists and online).
3. Baby feeding bottle sterilising solution.
4. Organic, biodegradable dish washing liquid.
5. Cheap, unused nail brush and tooth brush (for scrubbing things).
6. New, unused pan-scourers for non-stick surfaces (avoids scratching glass).
7. Razor blades (for scraping glass clean and removing dead sealant).
8. Aquarium sealant (buy big - it's cheaper in the long-run)
9. Water dechlorinator (to neutralise the sterilising solution)
10. Time and patience - with elbow grease!

The vinegar gets rid of limescale safely. The methylene blue is to soak filter sponges and other used equipment in, diluted quite heavily. The sterilising solution is weak hypochlorite and can be left in the tank overnight to kill any germs lucking in crevices, provided it's thoroughly rinsed out the next day and dechlorinated (soak with water with double dechlorinator in it). Don't accidently do the vinegar and hypochlorite at the same time, whatever you do!

The dish washing liquid, brushes and scourers are all for obvious purposes.

If during the soaking stages you notice a leak, you scrape out the damaged sealant and re-seal. Make sure the seal gets a thorough chance to dry before adding water and follow the instructions on the container.

You'd be amazed at the tanks I've resurrected - as long as the basic structure is sound, there's nothing to stop you doing it. Good luck!

 

[Rhapsody]

Well, I've been working on cleaning the tank for the past several days (and many hours...I'm pooped now). I swear, that thing is probably the cleanest thing in my entire house!

Thank you very much for your advice, Anna. I'm surprised at how nice that once dirty old tank looks now.