Help, please!

[medmom3]

I am new here but had aquariums when I was younger. I just received a 30 gallon tank from a friend who is done with it! When I got there there was a huge! white frog swimming around. I am not interested in keeping frogs so it went to another friend. Now I have an empty tank with a strong smell and slime everywhere. If I clean it really well (I know no chemicals), do you think it will be ok to use for fish? I know there were fish at one time but I think it’s been a while.

 

[Andy Sager]

It will need a good disinfection before you start with fish. Get yourself a bottle of bleach or chlorine that has no additives or scents to it. Fill the tank with water and if the tank came with a filter ( i.e. Canister , HOB or internal filter) that's not a sponge filter, have it running without any of the materials in it. (They should be new material when you set it back up for fish). Add the bleach or chlorine until you see any film or algae start to turn white then stop adding the bleach. Let the tank run for an hour or so so that every part of the aquarium get's sterilized. Drain and fill a couple of times to dilute as much of the bleach as possible then when you fill again in preparation for the fish, use triple the amount of dechlorinator for the water volume and the tank should be good to start. You will need to cycle the aquarium again and as long as there are no fish now, doing a fishless cycle will be a better choice. Here are the directions for this: Fishless Cycle Guide using Ammonia

Hope this helps: thumb:

 

[Rose Chandler]

I am new here but had aquariums when I was younger. I just received a 30 gallon tank from a friend who is done with it! When I got there there was a huge! white frog swimming around. I am not interested in keeping frogs so it went to another friend. Now I have an empty tank with a strong smell and slime everywhere. If I clean it really well (I know no chemicals), do you think it will be ok to use for fish? I know there were fish at one time but I think it’s been a while.

Use an UV to help make your tank stay safe.

 

[medmom3]

It will need a good disinfection before you start with fish. Get yourself a bottle of bleach or chlorine that has no additives or scents to it. Fill the tank with water and if the tank came with a filter ( i.e. Canister , HOB or internal filter) that's not a sponge filter, have it running without any of the materials in it. (They should be new material when you set it back up for fish). Add the bleach or chlorine until you see any film or algae start to turn white then stop adding the bleach. Let the tank run for an hour or so so that every part of the aquarium get's sterilized. Drain and fill a couple of times to dilute as much of the bleach as possible then when you fill again in preparation for the fish, use triple the amount of dechlorinator for the water volume and the tank should be good to start. You will need to cycle the aquarium again and as long as there are no fish now, doing a fishless cycle will be a better choice. Here are the directions for this: Fishless Cycle Guide using Ammonia

Hope this helps: thumb:

Thank you so much! Your instructions are very clear. Are you a teacher?

 

[medmom3]

Use an UV to help make your tank stay safe.

Is that part of the filter? I see some that seem to have UV lights.

 

[Andy Sager]

Thank you so much! Your instructions are very clear. Are you a teacher?

In some ways. I spent over 45 years in the pet industry and have worked in a few retail pet shops during that time so I'm used to teaching people with almost every answer that comes from my mouth ( and now fingers. ). The process I described is the same process I've used to sterilize every tank I've ever owned ( and I've owned hundreds of them as a commercial fish breeder ) so I know it works.

As for your UV question, Ultra Violet sterilizers are a separate machine from the filter ( but can be placed inline with the filter output line of a canister filter) that uses UV light to kill whatever passes in front of the bulb(s). Their effeciency is based on proper water flow. Each unit has a flow rate for maximum effect so you need to match the unit to your flow potential or you have to get a separate water pump to run the water through the unit. Unfortunately, the only real downside to UV sterilizers is that the bulbs have a relatively short lifespan ( approx 9000 hours which means they need to be replaced yearly if used properly.) They will still glow after a year but the wavelength will not kill much of anything.