The Ultimate Mess Of Doom

[Channti]

As many here know, I'm a university student. This year, I moved off campus to rent a house. The first week I was here, I explored my backyard and discovered an aquarium (approximating at about 40-50 gallons) sat out back on the deck, half full of a grungy looking algae-ridden water, covered with a piece of styrofoam. When my landlord stopped by to fix a couple things, I asked him about the aquarium.

Apparently it's been sat on the deck for about 3 years, through freezes and thaws of winter and spring, without being touched. If he were to get rid of the tank, he would be smashing it and taking it to a dump.

I hate the idea of the tank being smashed and destroyed, and therefore would like to attempt to salvage it. He's told me that it's mine if I want to clean it up, and I can do with it what I wish, or he'll remove it for me. The tank, externally, looks to be in VERY good condition.

Obviously, the tank is going to be gross inside. It's been outside for 4 years. Is it even salvagable?

If it is...Where do I start on this?. Bleach?. I'm expecting to find some kind of creepy-crawly in the tank. What kind of problems can I expect with a tank thats been outdoors for this long?. The land lord couldn't even tell me how it ended up on the back porch. lol.

 

[Katty]

If there are bugs or algae/mold in it, that really isn't too bad. Nothing that dumping the gunky water and soaking and scrubbing with chlorine bleach and water solution wouldn't kill. I don't think cleaning it out would really be your problem. Make sure you don't use anything a sponge or scrub would scratch the glass though.

If you wanted to use something less harsh than chlorine bleach you could maybe use hydrogen peroxide. I would not dump bleach outside into the yard, but hydrogen peroxide breaks down into water and oxygen when exposed to light (not sure on how long it takes though) so it could make the cleaning easier if you could dump the waste water into the yard rather than hauling dirty bleachy water to the drain.

I might be underestimating the mess though? I don't know... Rubber gloves also makes cleaning gnarly stuff a lot easier, psychologically at least

I would be worried about the silicone seams being weakened from all the outdoor weather. Before you put all the effort into cleaning it out, I think it would be a good idea to fill it completely with water and see if it leaks over the course of a few days. If it does, then you'd have to decide if you want to put in the extra effort of resealing it up or just dumping the whole thing.

 

[PaBucsFan]

I agree with Katty. You would assume the silicon would be durable and hold up but I would suggest getting the old water out of the tank, cleaning it up, filling with fresh water and covering it to slow evaporation and see if the seal has held through the rougher weather.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, I think I would tilt one end against a deck rail or upside down with a log or something under one end and spray it out with the hose. Then, I might want to get it on to some surface that might make leakage more visible (a driveway or walk or childs swimming pool or some sort of sheet of something (?) (idea being that just sitting on the deck might make small leakage detection somewhat difficult.) I'd then do as suggested above and just fill it, despite it still being somewhat dirty, and put something on top to slow evaporation and I'd mark the water line with a piece of tape and begin watching the whole situation for a period of days. Often people abandon tanks because they leak and at 30G/110L or so (or larger) the tank gets big enough that they don't just drop it in the trash can. (On the other hand it could be fine! Let's hope!)

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Channti]

What gets me, is that the tank is half-full of water at the moment.
So if it leaks, it'll be in the top half of the side seams.

Its a -little- too cold to be outside spraying down a tank today, but I'm hoping for a little warmer weather so I can check it out.

 

[waterdrop]

sheesh, its 90 degrees here, maybe, today

 

[Gvilleguy]

I'm with WD - I wish it was cold here. 90 degrees is forecasted! I'm ready for Fall. I agree with the other suggestions - empty the tank - clean it enough to not be gross - then fill it all the way and let it sit to check for leaks. You could put towels under it to help detect water.

Then if it's sound, give it a good cleaning and go for it.

 

[Timmy_Bee]

hows it going? got any updates? over here the weather is adequate, but im guessing im a few thousand miles away from you

 

[Channti]

Weathers been too cold to touch anything.

I'm gonna try tomorrow.

 

[waterdrop]

Same here, my patios been to hot to go bother with my bogwood...

 

[Channti]

Supposed to have some hot temperatures tomorrow; but my boyfriend is also supposed to be coming to see me (haven't seen him in a month). IF I get time, I'll check it out and see what I can do... It might have to wait til the spring now

 

[waterdrop]

I'm sure if he's not seen you in a month then cleaning a dirty aquarium is the first thing on his mind.

 

[Channti]

I'm sure if he's not seen you in a month then cleaning a dirty aquarium is the first thing on his mind.

haha. exactly. He's got other ideas on how to spend this aftenoon. I'm hoping to get to it after class, before he arrives. If I don't get to it, maybe I can sell him on taking an hour out of the WEEK he's spending with me to at least drain the tank and refill it with clean water to leak-test it...