Soapy aquarium-salvageable?

[spiff]

I had an opportunity to get a cheap 55gal at a garage sale, but after hearing the owner talk about how she "even clean it for us", and when I enquired further, she had used dishwashing liquid on it. I heard the stories how it can never be removed completely... how true is that?

I'm sure it can be removed, but how much of a problem is it really to get soap out of an aquarium so its fish friendly again?

 

[BushFishRox]

just go over it with hot vinegar water and that should do it...

 

[spiff]

damn.. shoulda bought it then

 

[gomezladdams]

Put it upside down on a pair of sawhorses and rinse the $$#@ out of it with a hose.Then rinse it again.

 

[Hawkfish3.0]

Yeah, it was salvageable. Just needed a thorough rinsing.

 

[andy1234]

use hot water

 

[Dan F]

I've washed lots of stuff with dishsoap (including plates I eat off), you just need to rinse thoroughly. I put filter parts through the dishwasher, they come out nice and clean.

 

[haynchinook334]

water?

 

[Oreo]

You need to rinse it till your fingers can squeek on the glass. THat's how I can tell that the soap is gone. The glass isn't slippery anymore. It's not hard to do at all. Definitely works easier with warm water rather then cold, but a garden hose is a good place to start till you don't see suds anymore.

As a last test, you want to fill it & sorta splash the water around with your hands a bit. The water shouldn't hold any bubbles on the surface. They should all disappear instantly. If you have bubbles at the water surface then you need to rinse a little more.