My boyfriend cleaned out his fish tank last weekend and used some kind of household chemicals to clean it. of course, the next day all of his fish died. i want to get him some new fish, but i want to make sure that there's a way to clean out the chemicals so it wont be toxic for the next fish. thanks for the help!
2007-02-05 14:40:34 · 6 answers · asked by Rachy 1 in Pets ➔ Fish
The best way is to clean the tank again but this time with nothing but hot water and salt. Put the salt on a wet rag and use it like scrubbing powder and wash everything well. Then allow the tank to dry completely. That will remove any residue left in the tank. Of couse, carbon in the filter will get most toxins out of the water if you are still concerned after the cleaning.
2007-02-05 14:53:12 · answer #1 · answered by magicman116 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Magicman is right for the best way to clean the tank. I just want to add one thing. Make sure that you cycle the new water before adding fish or you'll just have the death drop all over again. And never, ever use soap or other chemical cleaners! First, clearly, we've learned they're dangerously poisonous, and second, aquariums don't need to be that squeaky-clean. To clean an aquarium, all you need to do is siphon the gunk out of the gravel, do a 25% water change and only rinse the filter in the old water you removed from the tank. There is a beneficial bacteria that lives in the gravel and filter that is good for the fish and a good cleaning kills all that wonderful bacteria. And, it may sound odd, but clean tanks encourage algae to grow a lot faster than ones that are kept a little "dirty." Good luck with round 2! Take care!
2007-02-05 15:16:00 · answer #2 · answered by Venice Girl 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
well this hard because the chemicals contain many elements that harmful to life. So what i did was did almost a 3/4 water change and replaced it with filtered arrowhead water then let the filter run for atleast 3 to 4 minimum days.You should be fine.
I did 3/4 because i have a 100 gallon saltwater if it is less than 50 you should do a complete change.
2007-02-05 15:14:55 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The best solution is to drain the tank, wash with bleach and water, rinse thoroughly, and let dry. The you may re-fill the tank with new water, treat heavily with a dechlorinator (amquel, etc) and let it cycle for NO LESS than 48 hours. This gives the beneficial bacteria in your tank time to get re-established before adding any fish.
Please make sure you use new filter media with carbon. This will also help remove any remnants of chlorine.
2007-02-05 15:02:09 · answer #4 · answered by bstrick338 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
My boyfriend used an indoor fogger without covering the fish tank and of course all my fish died. How do I clean it out to remove all the toxins??
2016-03-17 07:35:25 · answer #5 · answered by ? 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
well he should have bought special fish tank cleaners or used dawn dish soap i have several tanks and thats the best way to go rinse it out dry it and rinse agian-plus dont clean it alot it should never have fish in it right after he needs to let it cycle through and use clorine kill which takes out harmful chemicals/metals in the water- he needs to learn more go to
www.myfishtank.net for more info it helps i promise
2007-02-05 14:50:09 · answer #6 · answered by Britanie 3 · 0⤊ 3⤋