Cleaning the "white stuff" of my "new" used tank.

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R

rdmpe

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My neighbor just _gave_ me a 50 gallon tank, stand, hood, 40w light strip, emperor 400 filter and heater!

It was an african cichlid tank, so has been full of fairly hard water for about 4 years. It has a lot of white buildup on the filter and hood. I assume it is some sort of carbonate type mineral buildup. What is the best way to clean it up?

Right now, the tank is full to the top with a bleach solution to kill the algae and whatever else may have been lurking. I was thinking that tomorrow I would empty it and refill it with a strong vinegar solution (acidic) and soak the whitened items in there for a day or two.

Anyone have a good way to deal with this white stuff?
 
Tyler718

Tyler718

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That is exactly how I cleaned the 70g I got used from a friend. The only thing different was that I used a product called Seri-Clean also. It worked good to.

Dave
 
jiggerpolebill

jiggerpolebill

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its funny this came up because i was just going to post this same question this weekend.

ok. so thats what to do with an empty tank, but what about ones that are currently in use? i have 1 tank that is really getting it at the top around the filter and heater and the glass on the sides. i have a magnetic algae scraper, but its not really cutting it. any ideas??(dont mean to hijack)
 
Tyler718

Tyler718

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Originally posted by jiggerpolebill
.....but what about ones that are currently in use? i have 1 tank that is really getting it at the top around the filter and heater and the glass on the sides. i have a magnetic algae scraper, but its not really cutting it. any ideas??(dont mean to hijack)
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I use a razor blade to scrape it when it gets real bad on mine. When I have fish in the tank I don't use any chemicals so I'm no help there.

Dave
 
Tyler718

Tyler718

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Originally posted by thom336
Im suprised no1 has mentioned so far that that bleach is gonna kill your fish!
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From how I read it there are no fish in the tank. rdmpe is cleaning it up real good to use. All that needs to be done when done is rinse real good and treat with a dechlorinator. One that also does chlromine also.

I have pulled decor out of tanks and let soak in a 19 : 1 solution of bleach and water. Rinse real good and use dechlorinator. It works real good for me when I need to do it for real bad algae blooms.

Dave
 
R

rdmpe

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No fish would live for 5 minutes in that tank at the moment!

The soak in half water / half vinegar overnight in a bucket did the trick for the miscellaneous parts that were covered with mineral deposits. There were only slight traces of the buildup left, and those wiped off with a washcloth. I still have to do the tank hood, but it should work out the same way I assume.
 
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Aderynglas

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Personally I would be concerned that the silicon sealant would absorb the chlorine and release it into the tank later. Doesn't this happen??
 
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