If im keeping fish in a tank that was once used for newts, how should i clean it?

[tiffany]

i want to know if i use any particular product, soap or just hot water. thanks for your help

 

[tiffany]

i am getting fish tonight and their going to be in an old newt tank. what should i do/use to clean it? any specific products, soaps. or water and should it be hot to kill bacteria and such.

 

[mark]

Hey, Wash the tank with really hot water, but other than that it should be okay, never use soap or chemicals. Hope this helps.

 

[mark]

Hey, Wash the tank with really hot water, but other than that it should be okay, never use soap or chemicals. Hope this helps.

 

[ian]

well.... you should have cycle the tank first for at least a week or two before getting the fish in. Or else, you are basically bringing the fish to a survival arena. Many fishes died from un-cycled tank by fish newbie.

 

[edward]

Do not use soap products as most of these leave residues that can be irritating of damaging to the fish when cleaning tanks. If you want to disinfect the tank, bleach at the standard recommended dilutions (see the label) is fine to use. Rinse well, and throughly airdry the tank before filling with water (if you are worried rinse it well with aquarium dechlorinator).

Ed

 

[jeff]

Honestly, the tank should be set up before the fish is brought home, and cycled. Goldfish and whitclouds are the only fish I have kept that tolerate uncycled water.

 

[tiffany]

ok thanks

 

[mark]

Good point Ian and Jeff, I forgot about that.

 

[jeff]

This reminds of something, One time I was at a petsmart that was unfortunatly the only place around to get what I needed, and when I got there I noticed that the whole aquarium area was being rebuilt. I know the manager there and we went into the back and discussed the filtering setup they were installing. The unit they were replacing was basically a hayward pool filter and pump. I just happend to know about these things beacuse I used to sell them and such. What was funny about this is that the model they were using used a paperlike mesh that trapped free floating debree. They always had so many snails and now I know why, it acted as a perfect breeding surface. Now I wonder if there was anything cheaper they could have used.