Cleaning a tank unattened for 5 months

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Hello; I read the post and saw no indication of disease problems mentioned. The plant should be ok to use unless there is some other issue.
My take is that the tank was not diseased but very dirty. Five months is not any where near the longest period for lack of routine maintence that I have known of.
I picked up a used tank a while back that had gone much longer.
After a physical cleaning and rinsing out the bulk of the nasty stuff, I make a paste out of non-iodized table salt. I use aa soft sponge or cloth that will not scratch glass and rub the salt pasteall over the glass inside and out.
Before doing this I will use a razor blade on the tough deposits such as mineral deposits. These can be softened with water.
The salt paste will scrub much of the stuff off the glass and has not scratched glass for me in many uses. Be careful to avoid getting any bits of gravel or other hard stuff in the salt paste. Some washcloths may scratch so be careful.
The salt paste can be used inside and out and will rinse away leaving no problem residues. Be careful to use salt without iodine.
Good luck.
 
skjl47 said:
Hello; I read the post and saw no indication of disease problems mentioned. The plant should be ok to use unless there is some other issue.
My take is that the tank was not diseased but very dirty. Five months is not any where near the longest period for lack of routine maintence that I have known of.
I picked up a used tank a while back that had gone much longer.
After a physical cleaning and rinsing out the bulk of the nasty stuff, I make a paste out of non-iodized table salt. I use aa soft sponge or cloth that will not scratch glass and rub the salt pasteall over the glass inside and out.
Before doing this I will use a razor blade on the tough deposits such as mineral deposits. These can be softened with water.
The salt paste will scrub much of the stuff off the glass and has not scratched glass for me in many uses. Be careful to avoid getting any bits of gravel or other hard stuff in the salt paste. Some washcloths may scratch so be careful.
The salt paste can be used inside and out and will rinse away leaving no problem residues. Be careful to use salt without iodine.
Good luck.
Click to expand...

There is very little chance the plants have any disease living on them. I just want to be safe, rather be safe than sorry. I don't want my fish to die just because of some plants that may or may not flourish in my tank.

You said you make a paste out of non-iodized salt. Do you just mix it with sink water to create the paste? I would assume that while rubbing the paste around the tank any sponge is safe. Did you wipe the tank to remove the salt paste or did you rinse out the tank with water?

I have single edge blades to scrape off dried stuck on crust. Do you any tips to avoid scratching the glass? I do also have one of the magnetic algae scrubbers to clean the glass.
 
Hello; I make the paste with a small amount of water. Usually after I get a tank initially rinsed out and as much of the gravel and other tiny stuff gone there is enough water left in a corner. I usually clean tanks outside with a hose which makes it much easier.
I rub the paste on the glass and usually leave it on for a while with the expectation that it will dessicate most anything still around. Sometimes letting it dry to a haze. I then can simply rinse the tank off with a hose which is not a problem when outside.
I usually then fill the tank and check for leaks while at it.
The plant can be rinsed off and this should get rid of most anything on the surface of the leaves. Within reason the leaves can be gently rubbed between your fingers while under water to help remove stuff. It would be a bit of a shame to discard a potentially decent plant. Keep it in a bucket of water for a few days and rinse it off a few times.
Good luck
 
Hello; I hesitate to include any sponge as safe on glass. Most likely a sponge will not scratch glass but test it to be sure. When cleaning and waxing a car I test cloths by touching to my lip. I once used a washcloth while waxing a car that was rough enough to swirll the paint. Glass is harder but can be scratched.
When using the razor blades be careful of the corners. If a corner gets tweaked it can score a line on the glass. This has happened to me. Hold the blade at a shallow angle and be ready to rinse often to clear away the already losened stuff.
 
White vinegar works wonders. Place vinegar soaked towels on any hard white deposits for a half-hour and it will soften right up.
 
I recently bought a 180gal tank that was fill with algae and salt. I just toilet bowl cleaning stuff by Lysol works great leave it on few hours and wipe off. But I have acrylic tank so I don't what kind u have?


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Thank you for all the suggestions.

I have filled the tank with water and clorox/bleach for a few hours today. I put the hoods, filter, air hose tubing, and heater to soak in it.

This is a glass tank. I am considering just leaving it as is right now. I have cleaned most of it off and you can see through the glass. I don't have room for it and will be selling the tank. I don't know for how much as I don't know how much a used 55 gallon tank goes for today. I know I most likely will have to reduce it by a little due to the fact the buyer needs to put in a little bit of elbow grease.

I have moved on to cleaning the aqeuon filter. I am able to get the outside clean using a soft sponge and one of the magnetic algae cleaners. The inside of the canister is getting a little tricky due to tight and small places. I also removed the intake from the plastic box part of the filter. The intake part is too small for the algae scrubber to fit. I was thinking of looking around if we have any old toothbrush to clean. If I can't find anything to clean the filter could I leave it as is. I can upload pictures tomorrow of the filter and what I can't clean off of it. I am thinking since it stuff from the tank and fish have lived in the tank for 5 months everything on it is safe if I leave it on. The bleach/chlorine will dissipate after a couple of days and with some water conditioner.

The plastic cover of the hood for the lighting is also dirty. It has something that has dried on and stuck on it. I have tried scrubbing with the algae scraper but it has not come off. I am thinking whatever it is, it won't hurt my fish especially after soaking in bleach. The bleach must have killed anything living or growing. I am keeping the the hood and lights as spare parts for my running 55 gallon tank.

The sand from the tank, I am unsure as to what I will being doing with it. For my personal taste its too small of a grain. I like the white color but the grain size scares me. I like my PFS and how it is a larger size which makes it heavy for my siphon to suck it up. I obviously can't identify the brand or if it is crushed coral, which I highly doubt it is from my gut feeling. Anyone know my chances of selling the sand as is? It is currently in a glad for flex bag and wet. It will need a lot of cleaning in my opinion, to be on the safe side. It is white small grained sand approximately 50 lbs.


I live in Fresh meadows, ny (11366) if anyone is interested in buying the tank and/or sand.
 
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