How To Sanitize / Sterilize A 2Nd Hand Tank?

[quicksandsecrets]

What is the best / surest way to clean out a 2nd hand tank?

I purchased a used 29g tank a couple months ago but only rinsed it out with hot water. I bought a new heater, filter, airpump & gravel, tried a fish-in cycle, and proceeded to fail miserably. I lost all 5 barbs. None of them had symptoms that would indicate obvious disease, fungus, parastes, etc. so I would presume ammonia toxicity from the cycle - except I was getting zero ammonia for weeks, even took my water to two other sources to confirm.

I have no idea if the tank was exposed to a toxic cleaner, or what may explain the bizarro events, but I figured it would be best to sanitize everything before starting over.

I have read bleach may be in order, any truth to that?

I am guessing that I would need to replace the filter media & bio-wheel just to be safe, but can I run the bleach water thru the filter system without any media just to clean out the insides?

Would it be wise to just trash the gravel & fake plants? Or is there anyway to sanitize them?

I have successfully set up 10 & 20 gallon tanks with fish-in cycle many years ago, and I recently moved a betta from a 1gallon bowl to a filtered 5 gallon tank - and it has thrived. I really want to get this tank up smoothly. Maybe I am over-reacting, but I want to eliminate any chance of there being something in the tank that caused this.

Any input would be appreciated.

 

[Defiance]

Hiya,

If your glass is all clean n free of limescale/crud

Then yes, a bleach solution

I would use 10parts water 1 part bleach

After a good wash/soaking, rinse rinse rinse and rinse again

But .................

Use a dechlorinator to soak tank inside after plenty of the above rinses

If you can still smell so much of a smidgen of bleach repeat the above

Tony

ps: per filter, yes you can clean the non media parts the same way, foam scrubber pad works good on my external filters, but obviously as you say keep the media well away lol

pps: per substrate/fake plants, yeah do the gravel while in the tank, wash any crud off gravel first though, i would carefully wash gravel in a seperate bucket, saves scratching glass, as for fake plants, if plastic etc then baby bottle cleaning brush etc etc then clean in bleach solution

Just make sure all you clean if 100% free of bleach before adding media and fish etc

 

[This Old Spouse]

That's a huge amount of bleach. I'd use more like a tablespoon to 5 gallons of water, then rinse with hot water. That's how I clean my second-hand tanks (they all are) and I've not had a casualty yet because of it. This is after I clean it out using Dawn detergent. Seriously. Rinse after that treatment, do the bleach treatment and rinse with hot water, and you should be good to go.

Then start your fishLESS cycle.

 

[quicksandsecrets]

Then start your fishLESS cycle.

I have been having trouble finding pure ammonia here in LA, still looking.

 

[This Old Spouse]

Is there anywhere you can get established media? Any friends who have established tanks? By LA do you mean Louisiana?

 

[quicksandsecrets]

That's a huge amount of bleach. I'd use more like a tablespoon to 5 gallons of water, then rinse with hot water. That's how I clean my second-hand tanks (they all are) and I've not had a casualty yet because of it. This is after I clean it out using Dawn detergent. Seriously. Rinse after that treatment, do the bleach treatment and rinse with hot water, and you should be good to go.

thanks for the help - any thoughts on cleaning the filter mechanism / gravel / plastic plants?

Is there anywhere you can get established media? Any friends who have established tanks? By LA do you mean Louisiana?

shoulda been more sepecific.....Los Angeles. I heard Ace Hardware carries it - called two local stores and they don't.
I am trying to track down a roommate of a friend who has an established tank (just not sure if it's fresh water or saltwater).

 

[This Old Spouse]

Honestly, I think if this was my situation I'd fill up the tank, hook up the filter and use a little bleach and warm water and run it for a bit. Then dump out the water, fill it with warm dechlor water and nothing else and run it for a good long while like overnight. In the meantime you could rinse your gravel with the weak bleach solution, then rinse in hot water. Plastic plants the same thing. Then the next day, fill your tank with the gravel, put in the filter and water and away you go.

Okay ... we're crossing each other's posts! I was going to suggest Ace Hardware for the ammonia. Just be sure it has no surfactants in it.

 

[quicksandsecrets]

Honestly, I think if this was my situation I'd fill up the tank, hook up the filter and use a little bleach and warm water and run it for a bit. Then dump out the water, fill it with warm dechlor water and nothing else and run it for a good long while like overnight. In the meantime you could rinse your gravel with the weak bleach solution, then rinse in hot water. Plastic plants the same thing. Then the next day, fill your tank with the gravel, put in the filter and water and away you go.

Okay ... we're crossing each other's posts! I was going to suggest Ace Hardware for the ammonia. Just be sure it has no surfactants in it.

thanks for the input - am I correct to toss the filter media & bio-wheel as a precaution? the tank never really cycled anyway

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Just an FYI on bleach solutions. used as a dip to rid plants of nasties and algae one uses a 19-1, water-bleach, solution and dips for about 90 seconds. For stronger applications I would suggest 10% solution. Using 25-35% soak on my H.O.T. Magnum micron cartridges overnight night turns all organic waste to a white sludge that rinses off easily.

Under no circumstances use any soaps or household cleaners on the inside of a tank or to clean anything that gores inside a tank.

Chlorine is a gas at room temperature, so if you clean with bleach, then allowing the item cleaned to dry out 100% means the chlorine gas will be long gone. Rinsing and then treating with a good dose of dechlor will work faster but also cost more for the dechlor.

 

[This Old Spouse]

I'd toss the media but not necessarily the bio-wheel. If you run it (with no media and the bleach solution) that would take care of any nasties.

Just in case you do get some established media, make sure you do all the cleaning of the tank and such before you install it.

 

[quicksandsecrets]

I appreciate all the help - once I get this rolling, I will provide an update.