Cleaning a new (used) tank

B

bigstorm

AC Members
Jun 26, 2005
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southern WI
I recently got a 30gal tank from someone that had it in storage for a while. After looking at it, there was a lot of build up from hard water. Does anyone know if you can use Lime Away to clean this? Would it ruin the tank for freshwater fish? Better question - has anyone used Lime Away and made it into a successful freshwater tank?

The reason I ask is because I already cleaned it with Lime Away. I went to my LFS to start looking at gravel, plants, ect and the guy told me that it was junk because of the Lime Away. I was thinking that if i rinsed it thoroughly, that i wouldnt have any problems.

Any input is appreciated. Thanks
 
I used Lime Away on my ten gallon tank. After I was done scrubbing the tank I rinsed ALOT. I used the tank for freshwater fish and had no problems. So as long as you rinse very well, the tank will be fine.
 
Lime away is muriatic acid (for the most part), I imagine you should be able rinse it clear, with a little work. Many people go freaky if you use any houshold cleaner on a tank, but as long as you know what you are working with there are many that can be helpful. I wouold have reccomended vinegar before lime away, but that doesn't mean your tank is ruined by any stretch.
dave
 
You shouldn't use any soap/chemical commercial cleaning products to clean any aquarium supplies or tanks, but since you did already, then it might be dangerous for you to use the tank, unless you rinse it really well. I think you could rinse a tank with a really light bleach solution. You might want to try that instead if you have to clean a really dirty tank next time.
 
I've used CLR on a lot of tanks and had no issues. I do not know if Lime Away has any soap in it. I suspect it is just acid.

In cleaning a tank, I start with water, then use salt to scrub, then go to vinegar, then a new razor, then CLR. Instead of bleach I use pottasium permanganate (PP) to sterilize for I find it easier to neutralize than bleach which leaves a slimy residue and tends to stress fish if not entirely removed.

PP is dangerous stuff, but can be bought at Sears Hardware (the small stores not the department stores) in the water softener section. Read all the cautions about blindness and lung damage and permanently staining everything including skin and clothes. I keep a stock solution for treatments, but I don't have kids who might get into it.
 
You shouldn't use any soap/chemical commercial cleaning products to clean any aquarium supplies or tanks
Click to expand...

This was the type of statement I referred to earlier. There are many commercial cleaning products that are very helpful with aquariums. And as long as you know what you are working with you can use them. Among the list are: Bleach, oxyclean, simplegreen, ammonia, and Vinegar. I have never tried CLR, but believe from the above post that it is probably fine. And if CLR is fine I imagine lime away would be as well.

There are things to be avoided for obvious reasons. the primary concern is whether or not a product will rinse clean, or can be neutralized. As always a little bit of research and thought will do the trick. I do all of my cleaning with commercial cleaning products, additionally every week when I swap out sponges I put them in the maytag with oxyclean and quite often with bleach as well. then let them dry for a week and put them right back in my tank.
Dave
 
for safteys sake maybe you could just use a mild bleach solution rinse well then let it sun cure and rinse again? then fill and check all of your paramaters...if you are still nervous ...i hatte to say it but buy some feeder fish to test,,,,good luck
 
I have had 3 small goldfish in there 5 days now and all is good. I decided to start out with some inexpensive generic fish to make sure the tank will be OK before stocking it with a few cichlids. I think i will leave the goldfish in there for another week or 2 to be on the safe side.
 
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