Help - Tank Dormant For 8 Years!

[jasmas]

Tank is a Jewel 400 which has been dormant for 8 years. Yesterday I removed the gravel and substrate (a dusty job) as going to replace with sand.
 
Now in the process of giving it a good clean with warm water.
 
Will run a fishless cycle again, the first time around (1st ever tank) was done using prawns in a stocking. This time will use ammonia, which I purchased online yesterday.
 
There's the internal filter column which has filter material there, also have the Eheim professional 2 external filter. The tank was emptied of fish (sold on) and water (by my mother, love her as I left in a flash for a job). The external filter tho' has had water sitting there for 8 years. 
 
I checked the external filter yesterday and it's running, with no leaks. The top filter pad (white) has been binned as filthy.
 
There seems to be a small amount of corrosion on the heating element. Is this a major problem or can i just clean it as best I can?
 
What about the filter material? The balls and the small bits of macaroni? plus the coarse pad (blue). Should I rinse them in chlorinated water and re-use them or should I buy new ? 
 
Any tips for cleaning the tank? Possibly, my mum may have used diluted soapy water (no sure) to give the inside a once over.
 
 

 

[fal3]

for me, I would just clean everything you can, as well as you can! Just put a load of back into it and it should he okay. And just pray your mum didn't used the soap like mine probably would

 

[gmc1]

I would start afresh with new filter media and heater.best starting off knowing that stuffs ok and not going to cause you stress and money down the line.it costs money in the beginning but it surely out weighs having complications down the line.
White vinegar seems to be the order of the day for cleaning aquarium.make sure you give your sand a good clean before adding to tank.
Good luck.

 

[Ch4rlie]

As the others have said already, to be 100% safe and in peace of mind, get some new filter media.
There's pretty much no way in knowing what has cultivated in that filter media after 8 years of sitting in old water.
 
And give the filter a good thorough clean, though must be said no soaps or disinfectants etc,  but diluted bleach or vinegar, as gmc1 mentioned, will be fine as long as a good rinse is carried out afterwards.
 
The heater, well, with corrosion on it and being over 8 years old, would chuck it out personally, not worth the risk of anything happening in the tank that may affect the stocking, or worse, anything happening to you when you have your hand in the tank during maintenance.
Heaters are not particularly expensive and easily obtainable online or from LFS.
 
And of course, give the new sand a good rinse in water to get rid of dust and dirt before adding to your cleaned out tank.
 
Lastly, check the silicon seals on your tank, just to see if not perished or peeling away after 8 years, should be ok imo but always worth double checking. Maybe add about a third to half tank full of water to check for any potential leaks.
 
Above all, good luck and let us know of your progress

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Keep that Eheim if it doesn't leak. I run several of that model and have for well over a decade. You can clean the media or replace it. bear in mind if you use bleach is is important to be 100% certain the media has dried out 100% before reusing it.
 
Another alternative would be to change your approach to media and fill the Eheim with Poret foam. 10 ppi foam in the bottom basket and 20 ppi in all other baskets. No floss, no blue pad just 100% Poret. The do not clean the filter until the flow slows. this can take a year or two. You will have an amazing bio-filter which will do a whole lot more than the average filter. Have a read here, there is a piece on using Poret in canisters http/www.swisstropicals.com/faq/ I have 3 NIB Pro IIs about to go into use using 100% Poret as the media. Although that article suggests using 30 ppi as the final media, in my conversations with Dr. Tanner he suggested doing so will shorten the time between needed media cleanings. Without the 30 ppi and using all 20s (after the initial 10 ppi) instead, it can be a year or two before you will need to clean the media. Using that 30 ppi will shorten that noticeably.

 

[jasmas]

Thanks to all, much epic advice, much appreciated 

 . 
 
Will let you know what I decide to do regarding the filter, maybe cycle the tank with the internal jewel, with new filter pads? Decide on the external later.
 
White vinegar clean for sure of the tank, with a good few rinses and we'll be away to go.
 

 

[fal3]

okie dokie! let us know how it goes

 

[SeanTrollope]

oo please start a journal 

 

[jasmas]

A journal here you mean? 

 

[Ch4rlie]

Yep, basically like a diary, typing up and taking and uploading pics of what has happened to your tank during this process, there are a lot of journals on this forum and they are interesting to read as well as to learn from

 

[jasmas]

It's underway