Cleaning Tank and Equipment

[Rocket2001]

I just got a used tank and needed to know the best way to clean it and more importantly the equipment. It looks as if the tank was used for saltwater but i'm not sure...there are whitish stains inside and out of the tank and all over the 3 HOB filters they gave me. Should I use bleach or Baking soda to clean with? Or is it OK to use CLR. And is CLR or bleach safe for the plastic parts of the filters? Any guidence would be appreciated.

 

[deeni0z]

the whitish stains are probably hard water stains. i get that on my light hood in my fw tank. when i got some hand me down parts, i soaked them over night in 90% water, 10% bleach. then i rinsed, rinsed, rinsed, rinsed, then soaked in tap water with dechlor. after i took the hand me downs out of the bleach, i used a soft sponge to wipe away the hard water stains.

if the filter has little pieces you can't get your hand into, try swishing it really fast in the bleach and when you're rinsing it in tap water.

 

[TankGirl]

Sometimes vinegar will dissolve those hard water stains (likely what they are - HOB's not common in SW, so that's my guess) but a razor blade and some elbow grease will be required. I have used CLR but I would hesitate to use in on the plastic filter housing, just to be safe. The hard water deposits might not be a problem for the function of the HOB, so I would not personally struggle with removing it, if it seems recalcitrant. I would, however, do what I could to remove it from the tank, and CLR has worked on glass, and can be rinsed off adequately.

Used tanks rock!

 

[Rocket2001]

The razor and elbow grease worked great on the tank..Its crystal clean now. As I was cleaning the tank I noticed a couple of peices of "purple gravel' that would indicate that this was a freshwater tank most recently. So the build up on the HOB filters are not salt...but I am still unable to get them clean...I am hesitant to scrub the plastic parts with anything rough because it would damage the smooth plastic and maybe cause more build up in the future. So the tank is clean but i still have plastic HOB filters that need cleaning..how do I do it?

 

[TankGirl]

If vinegar does not work I would go ahead and use them as they are. Do you have acidic or alkaline water? If you have soft, acidic water then the deposits will likely come off over time by themselves, at least the ones that are submerged.