how do i clean a fish tank?

Question

it used to be my brother's but he doesn't have fish anymore so he gave it to me but it looks really dirty. it's pretty big and about 4 years old. what product do i use to clean it etc.

Answer 1

Are you ready for some scrubbing? Get a green scrubbie pad and good old hot soap and water first. after that, take a razor and scrape all of the sides down and then re wash it and thoroughly rinse it. I don't advise using a lot of chemicals because of the incompatibility with the sealant. I use to have several aquariums and had to do this once a year, but I kept a pretty clean tank so it wasn't that bad. Good luck.
Do NOT use a degreaser. This will ruin the silicone sealant on the tank. Be extremely careful of listening to people that tell you to use chemicals . You don't want the seal to give up on you after you fill it with water. Talk about a mess. There really aren't a lot of short cuts. Sorry. That is just the downside of aquariums.

Answer 2

Plz take in suggestions there is not any fish that does the cleansing of the tank for you, there's a fish for particular purpose like ingesting algae and ingesting the last food on the bottom of the tank, for that pleccs, cat-fish a, algae eaters and loaches will be seen. The cleansing of the tank will be continually your interest and duty.

Answer 3

That depends on many factors----if it has not had good water for keeping fish healthy for a very long time you will need to go the whole nine yards and transfer them to another tank (how to do that would be another subject)--------otherwise I stop the filters------siphon off 20%----------to--------40% of the water-----depending on how fouled------best to stay between 20-30% if possible------please remember to dechlorinate your replacement water before hand------and this time of year----be careful with those temperatures.You need an algae scraper available at most pet shops----and a water vacc if you can spring for it---if you don't have fish in it now---and you want to do it right-----try to wash it in the bathtub if it will fir------you need lots and lots of luke-warm water flowing as you churn the gravel over and over and use the gravel to scour the glass clean--keep churning the gravel under flowing water and scouring your glass till the water comes out clear--take out everything and clean it with just plain old water and elbow-grease-set it up and wait at least a week before starting to introduce any fish--- I hope this helps you----Good Luck

Answer 4

Never use chemical or soaps other than pure white vinegar or aquarium salt to clean a tank. The vinegar will dissolve hard water buildup without harm to future fish. Use a soft sponge or a razor scraper (but not on the silcone). Don't use a rough sponge or brillo type sponge because you will etch the glass.

Answer 5

For a really dirty tank ( dirt, mud, hard white detritus, calcium deposits, etc.) I would use detergent and water. After cleaning and scrubbing the tank clean, rinse it many, many times with water. After around five or more rinses, put water on it and let stand for 24 hours to leach out any remaining detergent. After that, rinse again one last time. Place water and methylene blue (P30 from pet stores, to kill any unwanted parasites/organisms) and let stand until the blue goes away. Rinse again. Whew!

If you want to put fish in that tank after it's cleaned you would need to "cycle" the tank first for it to be habitable to fish. That's another story. Please refer to pinoyaquatics.org if you have other questions. Good luck!

Answer 6

hi do not use any cleaning products, if you can put it on its side, either in the bath or out side if to big, just use a new rough sponge and water, you should find all the algea will come off easy, use shower , just scrub it off, if you have sand just rinse and rinse till it comes clean, i use a strainer, its easier, then refill tank with tap water, and tap conditioner from pet store, then wait 10 day,, then add fish, perfect, oh yes and some plants from pet shop

Answer 7

if there is no fish in it take it outside spray it with a hose and degreaser. that will do the job let it soak for 5 min. than scrub away. rinse it with water till the water runs clean.

Answer 8

change the filter monthly use a mangentic scrubber
check the water weekly those are the 3 best things you can do

Answer 9

gently scrub with pan scrubber and aquarium salt.rinse well.dont use soaps and chemicals fish can be killed with them if there is any residue.