Washing Tank And Filter

[theone]

Hello there!

I've bot a 77 Gallon tank last week. It came with a Fluval 400 séries.

Here's my problem. The girl mentionned that she put her filter in her SaltWater tank. The tank and the filter wore originally set up as Freshwater.

I have no Idea why she stuck here Fluval in here SaltWater tank??!! She did that the day befor I went down there to get the equipement.

How do I get rid of the Salt? Theres a lot! The Fluval driped a bit on the floor, and when the water evaporated there was a tone of salt left behind.

I'll be washing the aquarium with a dab of dish Soap. Maybe bleach to. The aquarium is thilthy.

But, what do I do about the filter?

Can you please help me.

Thanks a lot!

 

[OldMan47]

Leave out the dish soap, you do not, definitely do not, want any soap in a fish tank.
Your best bet with the filter is to fill a bucket with pure tap water and start rinsing components one at a time to remove the salt. That was a terrible thing to do on a freshwater filter since it forces you to deal with the salt.
Cleaning a dirty tank is best done with care. It is better to have a bit of residue on the glass than to end up with hard to remove chemicals. I would start by using vinegar to remove scale deposits, like you might have with a tank used in a hard water area. When you are done scrubbing using the vinegar to help dissolve the hard water deposits, you could use a 20 to 1 solution of common household bleach to help with the final cleaning. After the tank is looking good, the last thing to do is use warm, not hot, water to rinse out the harsh bleach and vinegar that you have been using. Even those will be tough chemicals for the fish to encounter. When you set up the tank, double the chlorine remover on the first fill just in case you were not thorough enough when you rinsed out the bleach.

 

[Tolak]

You can go a step beyond the bleach solution & vinegar, but I would start with that. Soap residue is difficult to remove, the removal is more work than what the soap saves.

A step beyond involves substances containing acid, requiring the proper protective equipment and precautions. You are best off doing this outdoors, you will need to be able to rinse with a hose.

 

[theone]

You can go a step beyond the bleach solution & vinegar, but I would start with that. Soap residue is difficult to remove, the removal is more work than what the soap saves.

A step beyond involves substances containing acid, requiring the proper protective equipment and precautions. You are best off doing this outdoors, you will need to be able to rinse with a hose.

Thanks for the advice, but I had to go with the Soap. It was not luxury using it. I'll be putting carbon in the filter to neutralise what ever I missed rincing.

But my concern is more about the filter. There's really a lot of salt in there. Whats the worst than can happen if I don't get rid of ALL the Salt?

 

[theone]

Anyone?

What happens if theres salt residuals?