tore down my little 5.5gal...

T

the_dougie

Why call it tunaFISH??
Oct 17, 2004
236
0
0
Toronto area, Canada
I finally decided to get up and clean out my 5.5gallon, which has been, for a few weeks, collecting nothing but fungus and bacteria (ashamed :thud:.).

So anyways, I drained most of the water, took out the ornaments (gravel stayed in), removed the heater, thermometer and filter, and took the tank downstairs into a large sink where i shot out all the mildew and other gross stuff out of the gravel with a high pressured hose. The water is chlorinated and I used salt so I'm sure most of the stuff died. I did the same with everything else.
I havent used any soap, though, and I'm sure theres still some unsafe microorganisms living in there. What do I do now? I hear it's a good idea to boil all the ornaments and gravel but I'm not sure. I could use some help...and tell me if i did anything wrong.
Thanks for the help.
 
I've soaked my fake plants and ornaments in a bucket of water with a splash of bleach (not sure of the exact proportions) then a major rinse to get the gunk off, then another soak in water and a big dose of dechlorinator. If you've got 24-48 hours to let the bleach evaporated off the decorations, you can probably skip the dechlor-soak. I'm a big fan of bleach, I know what it is (chemically), I know what it does, and I know how to get rid of it. *shrug* its a great disinfectant IMO
 
i like rubbing alcohol, its very cheap, kills bout everything and dries up very fast leaving no residue behind plust leaves no streaks on the glass and also acts as a bit of a solvent cleaning tough crud
 
Okay well a fair bit of stores are closed now, but theres no rush to clean the thing. I was thinking of using bleach but I don't know how hard that will be to get out of the filter. At the moment the waters chlorinated with LOTS of salt in it. Tomorrow I'll search for some alcohol.
Thanks for the help.
 
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