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Cat Peed in Empty Aquarium, Cleaning Suggestions?

7K views 9 replies 7 participants last post by  Caliban 
#1 ·
So, my wonderful boy cat peed in my empty and dry, brand new, 15 gallon glass aquarium *face palm.* Apparently he thought it looked like a litter box. I have of course wiped it up, but I haven't used any cleaning products, since they'd be bad news for fish. Should a water/bleach solution be enough to disinfect the tanks before I begin using it? Suggestions for forms of humane cat torture also welcome.
 
#2 ·
Twist his tail till he faints or eat a mouse in front of him!
You can use hot water to shower it good, cat pee aint nuclear waste, 2-3 good hot showers will do the trick. Let it dry, reshower and dry with cloth or napkins.
 
#3 ·
Baaaaahahahahaha! My cat peed in my aquarium before I set it up, too... I just used vinegar and water and rinsed it well. Honestly... gross as it sounds... I wasn't overly concerned about it, because I figured that in the month or so that I'd have the tank running and cycling, the cat pee would be gone (and ammonia would be used up during the cycling).
 
#4 ·
If you want to use bleach, use it very diluted. Then rinse the crap out of the tank and rinse it again using your water conditioner treated water to remove any trace of chlorine.

Or, just use the cat to wipe it down :)
 
#5 ·
If you want to use bleach, use it very diluted. Then rinse the crap out of the tank and rinse it again using your water conditioner treated water to remove any trace of chlorine.

Or, just use the cat to wipe it down :)
Yes... yes... have Dufferdoodle help me "wash it"... I like this plan... Thankfully he didn't poo, just peed. I think his sister may have helped. I'm pretty sure I was the dumb owner going "oh, isn't that cute, I have a catfish!" while he was doing it.
 
#9 ·
I've used peroxide to clean aquariums before.. Also I used Oxyclean once... Not sure if it's relatively safe or if I dodged a bullet... Oxyclean is pretty much peroxide in powder form with some salt and baking soda in it...


Anyways, the above posters are right, Cat pee isn't nuclear waste. :p The only toxic elements would probably be the salt and ammonia- both of which are relatively safe in tiny amounts.
 
#10 ·
I had visions of people telling me that the enzymes found in cat pee were some of the most toxic things in the world for fish and that I'd have to get rid of the tank, because I'd never be able to remove them. Needless to say, I'm glad my imagination was wrong. I'm going to be trying to substrate plant the tank, and it will be fishless for a while after it's filled, so I'm pretty sure a few good rinses with hot water should do the trick.
 
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