Is my tank nearly fully stocked?

[Byron]

Thanks!


I went to Wal-Mart over the weekend and purchased a 4 gallon bucket. This should make it much easier to change out 25-50% of the water without making too much of a mess. I thoroughly rinsed the bucket with hot water, but didn’t use Dawn because I feared there may be some residue left over. How safe is using a car wash bucket and how thoroughly does it need to be cleaned before using to add clean water? Thanks

Do not use a bucket that has been used for any purpose no matter how well washed out. Brand new bucket(s), label them fish on the outside, and use only for fish. Wash/Rinse buckets with hot water only.

 

[steelo]

Do not use a bucket that has been used for any purpose no matter how well washed out. Brand new bucket(s), label them fish on the outside, and use only for fish. Wash/Rinse buckets with hot water only.

Right. This is a brand new bucket and I would not use it for anything but clean fish water! I was concerned about the manufacturing chemicals/oils used in the plastic not rinsing out, but now I'm glad I didn't use dishwashing soap!

 

[FishGuest5123]

That should be fine. Just rinse it several times in warm water. You can add a little aquarium salt to disinfect if you want to. Rinse well.

 

[Colin_T]

Non perfumed detergents and soaps are normally fine and wash off plastics quite easily. However, Anti-bacterial Soaps do leave a residue behind and should not be used on anything fish related, or on your hands before working on/ in the tank.

Liquid bleach can be used to clean plastic buckets. Wipe out the bucket with straight liquid bleach and leave it for an hour. Then rinse well under cold water until you can no longer smell bleach. Leave the bucket in the sun for a few hours if still concerned and the UV light will break down any residual chlorine. Alternatively, fill the bucket with cold water and add a dechlorinator at 4 times normal dose. Stir the water up and leave it for 30 minutes or so before tipping the water out and giving the bucket another rinse.

Heat/ hot water can cause plastics to leach chemicals so cool or warm water is better than hot water when it comes to rinsing out fish buckets that are used to hold water that is going into the aquarium.