New freshwater trouble!

Kaisa1784 · 09-06-2006, 11:21 PM

I recently bought a 55gal tank from someone. The problem is that i believe the tank may have housed a lizard at some point but I am unsure of the last use for the tank. I went to a somewhat questionable pet store and the clerk said that if i put a fish in a tank that once housed a lizard that all my fish would die no matter how well i cleaned and rinsed the tank. If someone could help it would be greatly appriciated.
Thanks a bunch
Ashley

ahill3780 · 09-06-2006, 11:39 PM

Welcome to FishTankForums!

Well you definately don't want to use any type of soap or cleansing agents on the inside of the tank. You may have to wait a while before you can use it again, but I believe you can bring this tank around. Although there is no garuantee that things will go perfectly.

You will want to give it a good scrub down to remove any leftover dirt particles, etc. Then fill it with water and let it sit for a while to give the residues time to loosen up and leach out into the water column. Change the water a few times to remove anything that collects in the water.

Test the water after a month and see where you stand with pH, GH, KH, etc. When you first start setting it up I would start by putting down the substrate and letting the tank cycle completely without any fish. If you want plants in the tank then that will be even better. Go ahead and put the plants in and leave fish out for now. Work on getting your plantlife established and growing healthy. If you can manage to sustain a healthy planted tank for two months before putting in any fish then your chances of avoiding death are much greater. The plants can consume some of the unwanted nutrients and help to polish the tank for the introduction of fish later on down the line. And if the plants die then you have a good indication that something is in the tank that is going to harm your fish. Killing a plant is a little better than killing a fish in my book simply because plants are more easily replenishable than fish. (Although I might get flamed for saying that.

)

These steps are one way that you can take to recover the tank.

HTH,
Aaron

Jay · 09-07-2006, 09:09 AM

Hi Ashley and Welcome to the Forum.

Quote:

I went to a somewhat questionable pet store and the clerk said that if i put a fish in a tank that once housed a lizard that all my fish would die no matter how well i cleaned and rinsed the tank.

IMHO pure bunk!!!

Lizards, turtles, etc. are subject to contracting some fairly serious pathogens,
Salmonella comes quickly to mind. But if the tank is empty, debris removed, and it has dried out is should be safe to handle. You might want to consider rubber gloves.

Cleaning out a used 55 gal. tank is a hassle. You probably should do it outside with the help of a friend.

Four Steps:

1. Hose and scrub using just plain water and nylon scrubby. Be Sure to get all old dirt out.

2. Go to the pharmacy and buy a big bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide and a sponge. Soak the sponge and apply Hydrogen Peroxide to the inside of the tank, use the whole bottle. This will take care of algae spores and some bacteria.

3. Rinse gently, be careful not to splash in your eyes, Let Dry

4. Lysol Brand (I'm sure there are others) "Food Surface Sanitizer" is what we call a "Quat Sanitizer". This stuff will kill organic pathogens just by having them read the label

Spray the inside of the tank and let it dry. After it has dried another rinse with clean water and the tank is good to go.

Should only take a few hours on a sunny day

Quote:

Killing a plant is a little better than killing a fish in my book simply because plants are more easily replenishable than fish

That's cold Aaron really cold

Ashley...
I hope this helps

Regards
Jay

ahill3780 · 09-07-2006, 02:30 PM

I thought that might get a rise out of you.

Ashley,

Take Jays advice here as it is a faster process and will get you started with setting up quicker. If everything fails then I suggest starting over with the steps I laid out to see if it helps.

thewebpop · 09-07-2006, 04:40 PM

Ok, it is time for Jay to start a "SW Reef" tank and time for Aaron to set up a "Planted" Tank. That way they will have to depend on each other for help! No More arguing over SW and PLANTED. Who or what is better!
Just a thought...Ha! Ha! Ha!

Ok, maybe that was only funny to me.
Later, Pop's