Tanks been cleaned with chemicals?

[CrazyCory42]

Hiya, sorry I’ve not sure if this belongs here or in hardware.

I brought a 60L tank off Facebook last week and after I’d paid for it and was loading it up in my car, the previous owner mentioned causally “yeah it’s all clean and ready to go. My daughter gave it a deep clean with soap before you got here.”

It was playing on my mind all the way home so I messaged them after to check what they’d cleaned the tank with, flash bleach and fairy washing up liquid.

So now I’m paranoid that some chemical is going to be lingering in the tank. I’ve rinsed it several times and let it sit with seachem prime in it and then rinsed again but I’m terrified of putting a fish in incase the cleaner affects the water.

Is there anything I can do to neutralise any harmful chemicals? Or a way to test that the tank is safe for life?

 

[Hanuman]

flash bleach and fairy washing up liquid.

Not the smartest choice of chemicals to use to clean a tank IMO. Totally overkill and hazardous to fauna in the tank. I would have simply used plain bleach in the worst case scenario, meaning if the tank had some serious algae attached to it that wouldn't come off easily. Bleach can easily be neutralized with prime.

So now I’m paranoid that some chemical is going to be lingering in the tank. I’ve rinsed it several times and let it sit with seachem prime in it and then rinsed again but I’m terrified of putting a fish in incase the cleaner affects the water.

There is nothing much else you can do other than rinse it and rinse it again to elliminate any lingering chemicals. If the silicone job was not a botched job (chemicals could be trapped), you should be ok as I don't think these chemicals will adhere well to glass after multiple rinses.

Is there anything I can do to neutralise any harmful chemicals? Or a way to test that the tank is safe for life?

You could rinse it again just to make sure. You can also put some carbon in your filter for a while so that any chemical that might remain will be absorbed by the carbon.

 

[seedoubleyou]

As above, I’d just run lots of carbon on initial setup for at least 30 days.

 

[OllieTY]

I've used a drop of dish soap and/or thin bleach to clean tanks and 2nd hand filters in the past. I would just thoroughly rinse, replace hoses and sponges if cost effective, and crack on

 

[Wookii]

It should be fine. I'd take the tank into the garden and get the hose pipe inside to blast it out, and give the silicone seams a good clean with an old toothbrush. That should get any residual washing up liquid out - the bleach isn't an issue (I always clean my old tanks out with a bleach solution - again any residue should just wash away - a quick wash with a concentrated de-cholorinator solution and the toothbrush, and another rinse if you are still worried about it.

 

[Hanuman]

The bleach is the least to be concerned about. The problematic chemicals are all the others that these 2 products contain, namely:

• Anionic Surfactants
• Non-Ionic Surfactants
• Benzisothiazolinone
• Phenoxyethanol
• Perfumes
• Linalool

 

[bazz]

...and after you've done all of above just run it for a couple of weeks without fish, which you probably should do anyway if it's only just in the process of being set up.

 

[sparkyweasel]

You could keep some Daphnia in it to see if they survive.

 

[Maf 2500]

Filling it and leaving to soak for 12-24 hours before draining and refilling would also help remove any "sticky" chemicals that were resistant to simple rinsing.