Given old,dirty tank & supplies, HELP

[chunksofpoooo]

craig
not saying its wrong, by any means, just that its easier to use vinegar. That way you dont have to worry about residue or anything. If you do end up using bleach your tank will probably be a bit cleaner, just make sure to let is soak in dechlorinator after, that way you can avoid the week long drying.

Im presuming you want to keep some type of tropical tank? Your tank is about 35gal, so that leaves you with a lot of room to explore different types of fish.

Do you want a community tank, or do you want a few larger fish?



oh yeh, almost forgot: you might start slow, but i promise you will get addicted very quickly!

ps
who doesnt love goonies?

 

[Edward Teach]

"addicted" -- understatement, no?

 

[Craig66]

Would vinegar work on removing the hard water deposits on the glass below the light? Water and a scratcher pad won't cut it, and I won't use anything like lime-away for that area. Used razor blade and took alot of it off, but there is still this dried film that it won't scrap off.

 

[sdb]

Try it and see, it won't hurt anything.

 

[chunksofpoooo]

vinegar should take care of that

 

[Craig66]

I'm going to give it a try. I'm almost to the point where I'm going to just take the glass out.

 

[OKCKitty]

Chunksofpoo, I'm assuming a community tank means lots of different small fish? If so yes. Do I get dechlorinator from a pet store?

Diane, Thanks for the help with the size. I'm sure I will need that info.

Craig, keep us posted on how the glass comes out. I may need that info sometime also.

I can completely understand the "addicted" comment. I'm feeling that already and I haven't even set the tank up yet.

We already have 4 guinea pigs, 2 hamsters, a rabbit, a cat & a dog. So, I am very excited about having fish. My daughter REALLY wants 'clown fish' but I told her we need to get a lot more experience with this before we go that direction.

Thanks again All!!
OKCKitty

 

[OKCKitty]

Ready for the next step!!

OK. Tank clean. The filter is an Emperor 280, cleaned and scrubbed. Light works. Been told I got a good heater. Now what. I went looking at rock. Does size matter? (Of the rock, I mean?)
OKCKitty

 

[Edward Teach]

the size may not matter so much as the makeup of the rock (so long as it isn't ginormous) be careful it won't leech (release chemicals) carbonates, that'll throw off your water chemistry, and that's bad unless you're getting certain specialized fish (malawi cichlids, etc) ...to be sure, you can test the rock by putting a couple of drops of vinegar on the rock--if it bubbles, put it back; if not, then it's cool

 

[Craig66]

Update: Cleaning w/vinegar

I finally got a chance to clean the glass below the light with vinegar. The results are good, but not great. Took off alot of the hard water stains, but not all. These stains may be etched into the glass now. It is clean enough for me now though. My suggestion is to try to remember to clean this glass each week when you do your regular maintinence (sp?) I let the vinegar set for just over an hour, and then scrubbed it with a scratcher. Will make it a habit to clean it when I do everything else. That should keep it clear.
Craig