Can you use bleach to clean a acrylic tank?

[nealio]

Can you use bleach to clean an acrylic tank, or will it leave too much residue. I have a ton of fine scratches on the inside of a used tank I purchased and I wanted to kill off anything that could of been living in it before I set it up. Would it be safe to use bleach or should I use an alternative?

 

[JWright]

Bleach is fine, just fill the tank with water afterwards and add a bunch of dechlor.

However, you can get the same results using ammonia, which will then go away when you fishless cycle.

Alternatively, you can simply use saltwater, since that will kill most freshwater organisms.

 

[nealio]

Would saltwater be the least likely to hurt the tank?

How much should I use per gallon to clean?

 

[seastaar88]

i like the idea of using ammonia (i never thought of using that.. i've always used bleach.. but you raise a good point that the ammonia will go away with the fishless cycle..!!). i dont think any method will "hurt" the tank. i wouldn't overthink it.

as far as bleach goes, i dont measure it or anythying, i just pour in a little all the way down the length after filling the tank up with water (after first scrubbing it down with regular water). then i swish it around a little and let it sit for a few hours and then rinse the hell out of it then fill it up with fresh water and lot of dechlor hten rinse again. as long as it doesn't smell like bleach in the end you'll be fine.

are you planning on buffing out the scratches before you set it up? might as well take advantage of it being clean and empty to do so! i'd hate to see you set it up and wish you had buffed out the scratches

 

[nealio]

Yeah I really want to buff out the scratches first, I started another thread about using novus inside the tank. I used it outside the tank and it worked GREAT!! But the inside of the tank really can use some help. Whoever was cleaning this before really had no idea how to care for an acrylic tank. Little scratches everywhere!!

I went onto truvu's website and they said not to use bleach or any other abrasive chemical , but I didn't think that was right in low dosages. I think I am going to try the ammonia route. It sounds the safest to me.

If I don't hear about the novus product, I think I'm just going to bite the bullet and order the truvu buffing product. It states on the site that you can buff out scratches inside the tank with no livestock. The last thing I want to do is spend all weekend buffing this thing out to a sparkling shine, then adding fish to find out the chemicals stayed behind and are now eating away at my discus.

 

[nealio]

ok revision:

You cannot use bleach or ammonia to clean acrylic tanks

I found this on a FAQ section of professional commercial aquarium cleaners:

DO NOT USE ANY PRODUCT WITH AMMONIA. This will cause a chemical reaction known as crazing, small hairline cracks just under the acrylic surface. Use water and a clean cotton flannel cloth to wipe down your acrylic. You may also use Micro-gloss and water to effectively polish each time you clean. See our acrylic care section for more information.

here is the source: ETR - FAQ

 

[nealio]

Another update:

I just got off the phone with a novus specialist and he said YES. There would be no problem using that polish inside the tank with no livestock. He said he gets the question about 3 times a week .

It is water based, so the only residue that would be left is some silicone. Either rinsing it down or just wiping it down will be sufficient enough to add fish again.

I'm gona get out my dremel and start to polish tonight