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...

[XG332]

I have always just used plenty of hot water and a very slightly abrasive sponge.
Worked a treat on a very very very algae infested tank i acquired. 3 years no algae

[XG332]

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

[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.

[ryanjohnstott]

OP- do you understand the Nitrogen cycle? Learn this basic principle and running a fish tank will be much more rewarding

Re the algae, a new Stanley knife blade can be used to remove algae from glass. Toothbrushes are useful cleaning apparatus. Other areas (not rocks or gravel etc) can be cleaned with diluted bleach as long as you wash everything off thoroughly until absolutely no smell of bleach can be detected.

[Jasandjules]

Use white vinegar to clean the glass. Ideally with an algae scraper.

[extraT]

Jasandjules said:

Use white vinegar to clean the glass. Ideally with an algae scraper.

Becareful with using vinegar- its acidic and any traces can affecte you PH & water quality!

[Jasandjules]

extraT said:

Becareful with using vinegar- its acidic and any traces can affecte you PH & water quality!

I use it on my marine tanks. I obviously rinse it back out and dry it before putting in the water.

[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?

[megapixels83]

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?

[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

[otolith]

Too late now, but I find thin bleach very useful for cleaning and disinfecting fish tanks and equipment. Just don't use it on anything absorbent * and rinse thoroughly.

• can be done, great care required

[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.....

[832ark]

kiethton said:

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.....

Good choice to go tropical. 100 litres is too small for even one goldie - work on 140 litres for the first fish then 40 per fish after that. You need to read up on cycling, there's no way your filter will be ready for fish in a week. Google fish less cycling, it involves adding an ammonia source to the tank regularly and testing the water over a 5/6 week period before adding fish. Your new fish will thank you for it and live longer and healthier.

[extraT]

you'll need longer than a week to "bed in" the tank. You need to cycle the tank. There are two ways of doing so: 1- "fish in" & 2- "no fish, with ammonia".

Its generally advisable to do method number 2 (google cycling with ammonia) as you will set the tank up properly and this will improve the quality of life for you fish (giving you a brighter, healthier tank)

If you do "fish in"- be prepared for water changes- also read up on how to do a water change properly! You cannot just add tap water, it will kill off all the good bacteria in your filter!

Also, initially go for a hardy fish, such as neon tetra's or zebra danios. They are hardly little critters who can withstand higher concentrations of ammonia, nitrate and nitrite. Also because they are cheap if they do die you have not lost out on too much money (yes, I know this sounds callous, but its true!)