Cleaning a Used Tank?

[DreaminginBlue]

I recently bought a used tank, and it has dried algae and hard water stains on the tank and the decor. How do I clean this?
I was thinking of using a mixture of 16 parts water to 1 part vinegar.

 

[enksr71]

If it's that bad let it soak over night

 

[DreaminginBlue]

With just water?

 

[UntimelyLord]

I've used straight vinegar for really bad hard water stains, assuming the tank is empty. Just rinse well after. A good scrubby dish sponge should help, and I also found that letting it soak in tap-hot water seemed to help to get the last bits off.

 

[DreaminginBlue]

Soaking in hot tap water overnight. Tomorrow will go at it with vinegar. Nasty dried algae everywhere, in filter too... *shudder*.

 

[DreaminginBlue]

Couldn't sleep, so I soaked all the decor in warm water with vinegar in it, then scrubbed it with undiluted vinegar on a toothbrush. Some of it still smells like dry algae (ick!), but I'll rinse it 3,000 times tomorrow in scalding water to make sure I get all the vinegar to go away.

 

[DreaminginBlue]

Just scrubbed everything again and soaked it in diluted Oxiver- it's a disinfectant we use at the zoo I volunteer at to clean everything. It's safe because its active ingredients break down into oxygen and water. I'll still rinse it a billion times, though.

 

[DreaminginBlue]

Ugh... just realized it has surfactants, wetting agents, and chelating agents in it. What can I do to get rid of them?
I figure I'll just rinse it a bunch in tap water, maybe do another vinegar scrub??
Please help.
"AHP is composed of Hydrogen Peroxide, chelating agents, surface acting agents (surfactants), and wetting agents. These ingredients bind the metal content and soften the water whilst reducing the liquids surface tension so it can spread across or penetrate the solid soiling on the surface more effectively."

 

[BillD]

I would have filled the tank with water and added enough bleach to make the water feel slippery. The bleach will oxidize organics in the tank making them much easier to remove. I would have let it sit and then scrub well before draining and rinsing. Then I would have washed down with straight vinegar to remove hard water stains, and rinse. I would do the same with all hard parts of the filter. Bleach will ruin sponges, so I don't use it for that. Usually I will run the filter box and all hard plastic parts through the dishwasher, using detergent, because I am lazy and it does a great job.

 

[Atucker681]

1part bleach to 5 parts water I think is the formula for a bleach wash you'll have to check. after that just scrub everything down once or twice with clean fresh water is what I do as for filters I'm abit anal I get a hard toothbrush and scrub it in boiling water bit by bit but BillD's method should work just as well

 

[DreaminginBlue]

Thanks guys. I'll try that.

 

[Atucker681]

Just done a quick check to the bleach you want around 10-20% bleach

 

[DreaminginBlue]

Okay. Should I use bleach to get rid of the cleaner or just rinse it?