200l (+-50gallons) of dirt

nunopicado

Hi to all.

I just got to the forum, and here I am with a dirty question! :)

I have a fish tank of about 200l that's been lying around with no water for about 8 years.

Now I want to get it up and running again, but I'm affraid it might be contaminated, specially the sillicon seals.

Any ideas of how can I clean and desinfect it?

Thank you
Nuno Picado

Amphitrite

Hello Nuno Picado, and welcome to the forum.

If I were you, I would check the seals very carefully for any signs of damage, and then soak the tank with a bleach solution, giving it a good scrub. Then rinse very thoroughly afterwards.

Was the tank previously owned by you? And has it been used to store anything other than fish?

Kate

nunopicado

Hi

Thank you for replying...

It was always mine (and my parents), yes. Years ago, it contained about 400 fish, which I always thought it was too many, but my mother... you know! :)


Then it started to be less of an interest, and when we saw, there was only a couple of them in the tank. When they died (of old age I might add), the tank got forgotten, and eventually was used to keep old video tapes .


A couple of years ago I bought a couple of tiny turtles, and put them in there, but they didn't make it (still were there for about 6 months).

Now my intention is to use it again for what it was made, which is of course, fish.


What do you think? Does it look too bad?

Amphitrite

400 fish? Wow.

I can't see a problem with using it, as long as it is thoroughly cleaned and rinsed. Double check the seals, and try filling it up before moving indoors and leaving it for a couple of days, just to make sure that there are no leaks.

Any idea what sort of fish you'd be looking at keeping?

fish_4_all

If you are worried about silicone seams then you can replce them. It is actually fairly simple. Take a razor blade and cut the old silicone off and replce it with either silicone from your LFS or go out and get some GE silicone that is 100% VOC. Place a fairly good bead on the seams and use a wet finger to spread it out as even as possible making sure to force it into the corners and force the air out. Just wash the seams with alcohol before adding the silicone and let it dry very well. Also make sure to let the silicone cure for at least 48 hours before filling.

I am actually going to do this with my 55 gallon tank here pretty soon and it needs to be cleaned even worse than your likely.

nunopicado

Hi


They were mainly guppys... :)

About what I want to put in there now, I was thinking about less quantity, more "quality", as in color and size.

I can't really do it before taking it indoors because... it is indoors. I live in an appartment on and 8th floor. :) Somebody's gonna get wet... :P


All those years ago I read that before putting the fish in, we should get the tank up and running, all set, with heater, filter... all but the fish, and keep it on for about two weeks.
I always did this when starting the tank and that was my intention now. What do you say about this?


About the seams, I think I'll look for the right silicone type and do that.
Those 400 fish I mentioned, most of them died back then, because the tank, which was homemade, had been sealed with standard silicone, which of course, was toxic.
When we found out, we moved the remaining fish and had the tank resealed by a "pro". I hope that won't be the case now... :)

Lupin

Welcome to Fishforum.com, Nuno.
I expect that one. I had about 200 in my 75g before.
There are sticky threads here that have cycling details. There are times cycling will take more than two weeks so you have to be patient about it. Buy an API liquid test kit to start with so you can monitor your ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and pH.

nunopicado

wow


:)

back then, all we did was check th pH...

I have yet a lot to learn with all of you... :)