just got a new(used) tank

silentskream

silentskream

AC Members
May 16, 2004
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Florida
okay.. "inherited" a tank from someone. and the tank was the nastiest thing i've ever seen. the water was brown and smelled terrible before we even started to drain it to move it.
i picked up all the decorations and underneath was pure brown solid waste to the point that you couldn't even see the blue gravel underneath... although you couldn't really see the blue gravel that well because there was so much filth all over the rest of the tank too.
the filter itself was a bio wheel filter.. and when i opened it up, everything that would normally be black plastic was covered with a thick brown film.. you couldn't see blackness at all.
the bio wheel itself was in the same condition.. i soaked all this stuff overnight, and cleaned the tank out as best i could.

most of the brown film has flaked off now that it's dry.. but i dunno if its even worth using anymore. should i just dump the filter?
what else should i do to the actual tank before getting it ready for new fish? just dump it and bleach it completely?

yuck
 
I would use a strong bleach solution with really hot water,let soak for a couple of hours.I would also do this with the decorations and the filter housing.You can always buy a new bio-wheel an filter media.Make sure you rinse very thouroughly,to the point where you don't smell bleach.This action should get rid of all the brown gunk(aka diatoms).
 
do not dump it in bleach! I did that to a tank and after 24 hours it leaked all over my floor.

If you use bleach, get a sponge and wash with bleach. Do not fill the tank with bleach.

bt I used 1 part bleach to 9 parts water and it still screwed up the silicone
 
I got a bunch of freebie stuff from my uncle in kinda bad shape too... not brown gunk like you describe here, but mostly water mineral deposits. I took all the filters apart and soaked them in a sink full of hot water and white vinegar. One filter he gave me, after this treatment, wiped fully clean and looks and runs like brand new! :clap: Same with the tank, I stood it on my patio on end, got a clean bucket of hot vinegar water and a tank algae scrubbie and went to town.... be sure to rinse everything thoroughly afterward.

If it were my tank, and there are no fish in it right now to consider, I'd probably toss the biowheels, any other old filter media and the gravel and buy new and start the tank up like brand new. :)
 
yeah that's probably what i'll do.

it's so gross though.

it smelled so bad i had to put it outside.

ugh.. yuck.
 
Unfortunately my parents tank right now is like exactly what you described. And they have 4 Goldfish in it that are all too **** big for the tank. I feel so bad now that I've done the research and I know better. I wish I had an extra tank to house the fish so I could go through the long process of bleach or vinager. I'm actually going over there after work today to do a 100% water change, install a new filter as all they have is one of those stupid air pumps that they seem to think is a filter, and clean everything thoroughly. I guess I should be glad I was able to talk my cheap parents into springing for the new filter.

Now if only I could talk them into buying a light hood as these poor fish have no direct lighting on the tank whatsoever. Parents huh, I'm 29 and getting them to spend money is STILL a work in progress.
 
they dont need a light hood.. they dont need anything other than ambient lighting from a room.

unless there's plants in there.
 
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