Soap In My Fish Tank! :(

[az9]

we recently had ick in our 30 gallon fish tank so i called my uncle and he told me to take out all the water,plants,drift wood and gravel and wash everything with soap so i did and now their is soap in the water.  i don't have any fish in it right now because the ick killed them all. so i was just wondering if any body knows a way of getting the soap out of the water without having to take most of the water out.   

 

[Joshwainwright]

You should never use soap to clean anything that's going to go in your tank.
 
Ideally, you're going to have to replace all of the water and clean everything again with fresh water.
 
You're going to have a problem re-stocking too as the bacteria in your filter will have died off. Firstly from not having any fish stocked but also from the soap.
 
I'm afraid you're going to have to start completely fresh and re-cycle your tank.

 

[attibones]

You are going to have to remove the water and rinse the tank several times with warm water and vinegar. The best thing you could do is remove all decorations and soak them in a large bucket of water and vinegar. This cleans the equipment and should help remove the soap. One should never put soap or any other cleaning chemical near an aquarium. It will kill fish. Fortunately, you say you don't have any in the tank due to illness.

 

[az9]

oh,ok i guess i'll have to wast another day. thanks for the help!

 

[az9]

how much vinegar should i use? 

 

[KirkyArcher]

10:1 That's ten parts water to one part vinegar, use distilled white vinegar for cleaning/removing the contaminants then rinse till there is no vinegar smell remaining usually at least twice with warm water. Then make your Uncle drink any left over vinegar

 

[Joshwainwright]

Then make your Uncle drink any left over vinegar

Great addition!

 

[Mamashack]

Then make your Uncle drink any left over vinegar

 
A bit harsh, but totally warranted! lol

 

[az9]

ok, thanks! lol funny