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Disinfecting my tank

1K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  bailey0789 
#1 ·
I just had a problem with my tank. I think it is overrun with bacteria and I want to clean it out. I would like to use the gravel again. What should I do to clean it. Should I just use some household cleaner and rinse it really well. I think i'll give it about a months rest. I just dont want any trace cleaner to harm my fish when i decide to use the tank again.
 
#2 ·
I would add half a teaspoon of bleach
 
#3 ·
Tear the whole thing down and soak everything in a 1 to 5 ratio or less of unscented bleach, wash everything off until you can no longer smell any bleach, then wash it again for good measure. Now at this point you have two options, let everything dry out completely and rebuild the tank, or you can get paranoid and scrub everything down with just plan vinegar (which I believe will neutralize any remaining bleach) then wash everything off again until the smell of vinegar is gone and then let dry.

Thats just for doing a good cleaning of everything, now the better question is, do you really think its necessary to go through all of this? Are you sure theres some bad bacteria in the water that led to the death of your stock? Or do you just want to make sure on the next run you start out completely clean?
 
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