New Tank!!! 60gallon Tall

[LordMatthew34]

Just picked up my new tank today. It's a 60 gallon tall and I can't wait to tear into it. A friend of mine said she was done with fish (after 30+ years of running aquariums) so I expressed interest and a few months later i've got a beautiful tank sitting in my garage. It's dirty, so i need to do some major cleaning, but other then that it's a beautiful tank. I'm kind of confused how the filtration works though. The back of the tank is cut off and there is a pump in one section, a bunch of blue balls in the middle, then some other weird stuff in the next, and a bag of charcoal or something in the end...I'll definitely be hitting you guys up when I get this thing up and clean. I plan on doing a fishless cycle before even attempting to put fish in.

She was nice enough to kick down some cool lava rocks too. When I go to clean this thing, what types of cleaning materials should I use? When cleaning rocks or what not, do i let them soak in bleach? Any helpful info you guys can pass down is much appreciated. I want to make this a brand new tank and start from scratch. I already have my API Master Test kit ordered offline and on it's way.

Thanks in advance.

 

[tropical-fish]

wow! u did well for yourself. that's a nice big tank you've inherited.

if possible it's better not to use any detergent or bleach. hot water and a sponge should be able to clean up the glass. i would try boiling the rocks rather than soaking them in bleach.

good luck with setting up your new tank!

 

[Esoteric Backbone]

Before boiling them, please make sure that they are completely dry all the way thru

 

[Homedog98]

Take care when boiling rocks... Any air pockets could fill with gas... Then go boom boom!

 

[Revenantwing]

yup id boil water then pour it on top pics please