Sanitizing a used tank?

[acocacolagirl]

(oops! meant to put this in the newbee forum...)

I am getting a used tank, but I am not about to put fish in it without knowing that there is nothing in it that could harm my fish. How can I be sure it is safe? I don't know what was in it before, or why it is empty now. What if all of the previous residents died of some horrid infection and left their germs behind. Of course, the tank has been dry now so I assume any microbe that may have lived in it when it was wet is long dead now, but still, I want to be sure.

Thanks.
More questions to come about this tank.....

 

[YoFishboy]

I find using table salt and a wet sponge does a good job...the salt dissolves as you scrub, but it does a good job of scrubbing out residue, and the salt should help kill off just about any crud left behind, without scratching or using chemicals....then just rinse out when you are done....

 

[OrionGirl]

Fill with hotwater, add scoop or two of oxyclean. Let sit for 30 minutes, swipe around the interior with a clean rag, empty, rinse. Repeat if you want, or if hardwater stains are present. Oxyclean will wipe out any organics, and rinses clean easily.

 

[wataugachicken]

i'm seriously starting to think of telling people to use pure ammonia in a solution with water (1:3). that way you will clean your glass, get rid of gunk and organic buildup, and then when you're done you can just go ahead and start a fishless cycle.

 

[acocacolagirl]

Thanks for helping me on my new adventure.

 

[acocacolagirl]

i'm seriously starting to think of telling people to use pure ammonia in a solution with water (1:3). that way you will clean your glass, get rid of gunk and organic buildup, and then when you're done you can just go ahead and start a fishless cycle.

Ok, I have the tank now. And I ended up getting one complete with gravel and decor. So am I understanding correctly that if I use this method, I just fill it, add the appropriate amount of amonia, and then that will be the water the fish go into eventually? Or does it need to be dumped and filled again and if so, I assume I could skip rinsing because what ever amonia is left will just start the cycle. With the other mentioned methods, I think I would have to take all of the gravel and decore out to clean or I would not be able to rinse it well enough. And have you used this method yourself??

 

[acocacolagirl]

i'm seriously starting to think of telling people to use pure ammonia in a solution with water (1:3). that way you will clean your glass, get rid of gunk and organic buildup, and then when you're done you can just go ahead and start a fishless cycle.

Ok, I thought about this all day...and I'm thinking, this is not a soak your tank method - that would be a heck of a lot of ammonia. This is just a use some ammonia and water to rub down the sides method....right? Maybe I could swish the gravel around in a bucket with the correct ratio then add it to the aquarium. Do I have it figured out now?

 

[wataugachicken]

oh, i was saying that you could use the ammonia in water to clean the glass, yeah. it is a natural degreaser and would get rid of any organic buildup making the glass look scummy. do you have liquid test kits for your tank? you should get one for ammonia, one for nitrites, and one for nitrates. once you clean it up, you don't have to worry about rinsing it so much like you would if you used bleach or other chemicals.
with a fishless cycle, you use ammonia to feed the growing bacteria instead of placing fish in there. less harm to the fish, no deaths, no water changes, and you can add your entire load of fish all at once when it is done. takes about a month though.

however, if you have the ammonia in there you can't add fish, it has to cycle first, then you add everything. using the test kit to see where you are, put in 5 ppm of ammonia everyday. when the bacteria get rid of that much in a day, and there are no nitrites either, then you are ready for your fish. do a big water change to bring the nitrates down below 20ppm, then put your fish in.

and no, i haven't used it, but i've read about it several times and have a big jug of ammonia waiting to cycle my new tank if i can't get any biospira locally.

 

[acocacolagirl]

Oh, that sounds good. I do have all of the test kits already for my other tank...accept for the ammonia because I just have little ammonia gauge hanging in the water. But I'll get a test kit for the new tank. And a month isn't so bad considering it takes longer than that to get a full load into a fish cycled tank. And I have my other tank in the mean time. The other thing I didn't like about the fish cycle is I had to get a bunch of hardy fish to start....and those were not the fish I planned for my tank. So here we go on a great new fish adventure!! :dance: