re-comissioning an old Fish Tank - How to clean

[kiethton]

I'm just about to start cleaning up my old fish tank, been sat for c.5 years since it was last used (drained of water but still has gravel)

The main issue is that the glass and internal areas still have large amounts of algae, including behind the filter tower and on all glass edges, whats the best way to get this off?

Last thing i want is a chemical which kills the fish as and when we fill it with water again - would fairy liquid (diluted be ok?)

On another note the tank previously housed tropical fish, we are going to be adopting a few (4 or 5) of my girlfriends black boggley eyed goldfish as she currently has 30 in a c.80 litre tank (the original 4 reproduced a lot!) I trust that all I have to do is remove the heating element (but store it for future use) and replace all of the filters in the mechanism.

The tank is a Juwel Rekord 96 litre (80cm) tank:

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=juwel+rekord+96&a...

[kiethton]

XG332 said:

As for the tank, please look into setting it up properly. (Cycling)
Refrain from filling it and putting the fish in straight away.

Already in hand, was planning on letting the water (with new tank treatment) stand and cycle for a 7-10 days before putting in 1/2 fish and then the remainder 2-3 weeks later?

I have just ordered replacement filters now so should be all good to go shortly.

[kiethton]

Thanks for all the pointers all, gave it a going over with just warm water yesterday evening which seems to have got everything off near enough.

I'll give the other bits a going over with a weak vinegar solution though.

Only slight issues now are the pump as the lower bit which ataches to the impellor section has de-threaded so just the cost of a new pump ontop of the filter media.

The heater doesnt look in 100% shape either but this isn't much of an issue as it will be coldwater for the time being.

I presume that 6 fish or so is the correct number in a near 100 litre tank?

[kiethton]

megapixels83 said:

6 goldies in a 100 litre is doable but you will need great filtration imo, rule of thumb is 10 gallon per fish. do you have a test kit as I would test for ammonia and nitrites twice a week with that amount of goldies.

I proper cycle means no fish until ammonia and nitrite is 0. can take a while but worth it. you'll want to make sure ph is somewhere around 7/8

goldies are messy and produce so much waste, i kept two veil tails in a 180litre and they grew to near on 9 inches and lived 8 years, fed on cucumber, peas, courgette, spinach and the occasional flake. could feed them from my hand.

distilled white vinegar and a water solution is perfect for cleaning, i use this to clean my salt water glass and also my power head and heater that gets caked in coraline algea, just rince very well.

i would use a heater set to 68 / 70 to keep it constant.



any pics?

Thanks for the pointers, currently its boxed up after yesterdays clean ahead of moving out of the parents place and in with my girlfriend at the weekend. After i've got it all set up i'll make sure I post some pictures up

[kiethton]

Well it's now all set up and bedding in for a week before any fish are added...

And there is to be a change to a tropical set up. Currently thinking a bristle nose catfish or 2, 12 or so cardinal tetra's and then maybe a few others.....