we used soap, can we save the tank?

[clyde1]

We just got a used 55 gallon last night, and before my brain cells kicked in, we were washing it out with liquid dishwasher soap. I quickly looked on google and saw what a mistake this was.

I spent an about an hour and a half just rinsing over and over and over late last night, with a garden hose with pretty good jet spray (but the water is pretty cold). Probably had a total of 5 or 6 total exchanges of water overall, but spent most of the time spraying the surfaces with the tank mostly empty. I've read some different threads about trying to get soap off of rocks and things, but didn't see much about ability to remove from a large aquarium. Some suggest vinegar, some suggest Oxyclean. I've only used water so far. Any other suggestions? Is there a way to test for presence of soap? Thanks!

 

[revfred]

Not sure about oxyclean, but vinegar will cut any remaining soap film and not harm the fish should there be any residual vinegar. I would pay particular attention to the underside of the top rim. It sounds like you've rinsed very well. I would do another wash with vinegar, and then several rinses. If your hose water is different from your house water ... i.e. you have a water softener for the house, do a final rinse "test" with that. Soft water will foam easier if soap is present.

 

[cougargirl50]

When we got our 20 gallon tank from my brother in law. A couple weeks ago. It was really nasty in there and we couldnt find anything that would cut the nasty that was all stuck to the tank. So when we cleaned it we used Westley's bleach white and CLR. We didn't clean the stones or the decorations or anything with that. JUST THE AQUARIUM. We knew that wasn't the thing to do. But we made sure we cleaned it out then very well, and made sure all the soap and everything was out. And our fish have been in it 2 weeks now and everything is going fine. And my fish are happy and healthy.

 

[FroggyFox]

Yeah, I dont think its a lost cause. If you dont think the vinegar did the trick...I might soak it in a weak bleach solution for awhile....then rinse that out really well and soak the tank in heavily dechlorinated water for awhile. Like revfred said, soap will cause bubbles...so if you use that really strong sprayer that would normally get a good lather going and you dont see ANY bubbles...(or they're just normal water bubbles and they pop after a couple seconds) then you're probably good to go I'm totally a worrywort when it comes to things like that...so I think I'd probably go overboard with the rinsing and the soaking...then set it up and cycle it...which is really another couple of weeks of soaking with ammonia...so hey by the time thats through with you should be good to go

ps...welcome to the tank and congrats on the new 55!

 

[clyde1]

thanks for the suggestions

Thanks for the suggestions. Especially about cleaning under the top rim. I thought I had rinsed well, but when I sprayed underneath the rim, it was clear I hadn't got that area well. I've soaked with a vinegar mix, and have rinsed several more times. We're filling it up and hopefully this time for good. Will wait a week and put some starters in (probably some type of Tetras or something).

The next thing I'm going to search for in the forum is about lighting. This 55 gallan tank came with two approximately 23" hoods / flourescent light fixtures. Looks like these were Perfecto, built in 1994. I can't get one fixture working (changed starter and bulb), opened the unit up, and the transformer is really really rusted.

So now will be going to local petshop looking for new hoods. This used aquarium experience is becomming a bit more nightmarish.

Anyway, if I'm wanting to stay under $70, any suggestions for new hoods. My first inclination is just a simple two-hood solution like we have now, which is oak color. Looks like this is going to run me ~ $55 from Petsmart, with single flourescent tube per side. Is there something better I should consider? Anyway, this should be a new post since new subject, but if you have any suggestions, would appreciate.

 

[Orion]

Now I wouldn't be calling it nightmarish. Just a few bumbs in the road. We've all been there, and Im sure you will think its worth it once its up and running.

For lighting, the cheapest solution is to get a Shop light. From Lowes or Wal mart these run around $8 (bulbs are extra). But then you are going to have to figure a way to mount it over top of the tank. A lot of the time these are secured inside a canopy and totaly hidden from view. However if you wanted to you could hang it from the celing directly over the tank. To do either, it would also require that you buy the glass tops to replace the plastic hoods with. These shouldnt be bad expensive.

 

[FroggyFox]

Have you checked out how to fishless cycle? Would be easier (IMO) to do that instead of worrying about some tetras while you're redoing your lighting etc... Check out these threads: Iggy's Tank Cycle Recipe http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13406 An example of fishless cycling http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/showthread.php?t=26438 "how to set up a new tank" FAQ: http://myfishtank.net/forum/showthread.php?t=19568

Oh, and don't forget that if you want live plants a storebought hood probably wont be enough lighting...you should take a look through some of the lighting threads and either go with the way Orion described, or check out some of the options from ahsupply.com

Hey...and a 55 new? what would that cost. Dont forget that you (hopefully) saved a lot of money with that. My new 46 bowfront and stand cost me about 330 bucks new (on sale)...which is WAY more than setting up the 15 I got at a garage sale for $18, or the 29 for $30. I figure if I get a used tank I can spend more money on the other stuff. Filter, fish, decorations etc

 

[Urge4Surge]

Hey, have you thought of making your own hood? Here is a link for a DIY hood.

http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/hoodcanopydiy/l/bldydonreefhood.htm

This way is much cheeper. This is what I did a couple of years ago. Eventhough this is for a reef tank, it should work for freshwater too if you change it up a bit.

 

[clyde1]

still going

Thanks again all for more good suggestions. For the lighting issue, what I ended up doing was get deeper. What I mean is I was able to take the two used hoods (there were two 24" hoods to cover the 55gal tank) and make working hood out of it. Then I went to Petsmart and instead of buying a fixture by itself for $39, I paid just a few dollars more (I really paid $50) and got a new 20 gallon tank that came with the exact same light fixture, and it matches my old fixtures. So now I have a 20 gallon tank ?? I may let one of the kids make a "dry aquarium" with it in their bedroom ( I'm kind of afraid to put a wet tank on the second floor, I've worked on damaged ceilings before).

Regarding my earlier comment about "nightmarish", I guess that's not really how I feel, I actually like challenges like this. The bigger issue was really my kids were getting a bit impatient (and thus I was getting a bit impatient). Butt I'm really thinking a little lessen in patience is not a bad thing at this point, especially for this hobby.

We've had our water stable for a little over a day now I'd say, and the water temp seems pretty stable, and I've added all the conditioners. We may break the normal rules and get a couple starters tonight.

In the future I may try some of these other lighting arrangements discussed. If this first tank works out well, I could see us becoming a 2 aquarium family. My guess is that many people on this forum probably have more than one tank. I'm not really impressed with the present lighting, even though it fits the aquarium well.

 

[denden]

i have had as many as 3 tanks at once but now i only have a 55 and it suits me just fine good luck in the futere with your fish it is always hard for me to wait for the tank to set up also all my fish have been fine and i think the longest i have ever waited was a day but i use some old water some spring water and the rest is city water knock on wood i have yet to lose a fish do to lack of filtration

 

[clyde1]

quick update

Just wanted to report that all has gone very well so far.

We started with 8 fish from the get-go, 4 Red Minor Tetras (guess their really called Serpae Tetras) and 4 Zebra Danios which we heard were very hardy. So far haven't lost any fish, it's been a couple weeks now, knock on wood. So we must have gotten enough soap out of the system. These Tetras tend to stay near the bottom. We enjoy the aquarium (peaceful).

The kids now want to get the next fish, we're thinking two upside down catfish, but need to read more about them first (if these get big and eat the other fish, we'll probably choose something else).

The two main issues we have now with the tank are (a) the heater that came with the used setup doesn't do a great job maintaining steady temp.. It's a pen-plax thermo flow. I'm considering if a submersible would be any better, and (b) the Fluval 303 filter it came with seems to periodically make a lot of noise and almost loses its siphon, like maybe air is getting into it (but I don't know where / how).

The other thing is we need to learn how often to vacuum the gravel, and what else we should be doing to the tank for maintenance. Do we need to add some Cycle once in a while, and change out some of the water I think. These are newbie questions that I'm sure are already answered in this forum, so no need to reply really, just wanted to give the update mainly.