Cleaning

[Happyfeet]

Ok guys... I can't believe I'm asking this, but I want to be sure and my books don't seem to cover it.

 

What should I clean my tank with. I just bought a used 55 gal tank and it's got a tiny amount of bio buildup that I want gone.

 

Is it any different than Freshwater tanks? With my Freshwater I would use a tiny little bit of soap and rinse it 8 or nine times. I don't think this sounds like a good idea with a salt water tank though. Any feed back would be great!

[Boret]

Vinegar

[Happyfeet]

Vinegar

 

Just regular white vinegar?

[bkl911]

Yep, just regular vinegar. I just cleaned my 333g acrylic tank because 80% of then entire tank was covered in coraline algae. I used 5 gallons of full strength vinegar and the algae just scraped right off. I let the vinegar soak on each side for about a day then used a plastic scraper.

[Happyfeet]

Yep, just regular vinegar. I just cleaned my 333g acrylic tank because 80% of then entire tank was covered in coraline algae. I used 5 gallons of full strength vinegar and the algae just scraped right off. I let the vinegar soak on each side for about a day then used a plastic scraper.

 

Awesome thanks, I'll get to work tomorrow on that. I got a bunch of equipment with the tank for free so I'm going to clean them up and maybe donate them to a kids project here on the forums or resell them.

[lanman]

Awesome thanks, I'll get to work tomorrow on that. I got a bunch of equipment with the tank for free so I'm going to clean them up and maybe donate them to a kids project here on the forums or resell them.

 

Rinse it well - but don't worry overly much about it. Vinegar is just sour sugar

 

For coralline algae, you want it full strength - but for just cleaning in general, you can water it down a bit. Vinegar is also good for getting assorted calcium deposits off of equipment like skimmers or kalk reactors, etc.

 

bob

[zygote2k]

just fill it up- that sludge will help you cycle the tank.

[ilikeb00st]

Also keep a spray bottle of vinegar. They come in handy when it comes to cleaning your equipment. You can get them from the cleaning isle at walmart for $2 or so.