Detergent on an empty glass tank???

**aquabud** · 01-21-2008, 07:05 PM

I already have a 20G tall tank which housed FW fish (yeah I got bored) for several months I got completely neglectful once I returned the fish to the LFR. you could imagine all the white layer thing that got settled on the glass due to evaporation....

So after months of researching SW habitats I finally decided to take a dive and now I have an empty tank covered in this white layer thing, I have tried some fine sand paper to remove it and it does work but the layer is very hard to remove!!

So now when I return home and check the tank there's an uncle of mine trying to remove the white layer with a combination of apple vinegar and detergent!!!!! It is working but what the @#!&!!

Is the tank now unusable???? Is there a way to properly clean it from the chemicals introduced??? help!

**CarmieJo** · 01-21-2008, 07:33 PM

Well white vinegar is totally fine and I guess the apple would be OK. In fact I buy it by the gallon and keep it with my aquarium stuff. I am not sure about the detergent. I seem to recall that detergents can rinse clean while soap will not. Let me check a bit for you.

**CarmieJo** · 01-21-2008, 08:09 PM

OK, here is something helpful. ToxicTkF7 Once there do CTRL + F and in the find box that pops up type "detergent", click find and it will show you the places in the article where they talk about detergent in the tank.

From this article it makes me think that if you rinsed it well you would probably be OK. Does the detergent they used say anything about bio-degradable? Or could you check with the manufacture and find out? I would be most comfortable if it was bio-degradable.

I don't know how expensive a tank is in Mexico, here they are not all that pricey for a 20H. For your own peace of mind you may want to just start with a new tank.

Even more important is if you ever used any copper based medication, like for treating ich, for the freshwater tank? If you did that can leach into the seals and then leach back out into the saltwater killing invertebrates.

**aquabud** · 01-21-2008, 10:49 PM

No I didn't dose copper, the tank was planted and had red cherry shrimps. Actually I don't like to dose at all, but in case I have to i already have a spare 10G QT :-)

About the detergent, it seems the tank will be safe as the label claims it's bio-degradable.

Well, another excuse to buy another tank! The main excuse being the shape of the tank, a deeper tank is getting more and more appealing to me. Too bad the only tanks that are deeper over here are acrylic tanks (too expensive). Perhaps I will make myself a glass tank.

Here's the shape of the tank (front bow):

**CarmieJo** · 01-21-2008, 11:07 PM

Well, if you want to convince yourself to not buy there is the advantage of more surface area per gallon on a tank that is not as tall.

**aquabud** · 01-22-2008, 06:30 PM

Eventually I think i will buy another! Fish tanks are highly addictive, more so reef tanks hehehe.

I'm really craving an acrylic one but maybe later, those things are very pricey. Around 500 USD for a 100 liter (around 20 gal.) all in one cube, I think. HA! there's always a cheaper route: buy a scratched acrylic (and then polish it of course) or keep buying old school tanks.

Bottom line: I have all the excuses in check, well almost. I just need a final one... cash! I have a lot of time though... Do you think it's a good idea to try a mantis shrimp tank first? I'm nervous about starting head on a full reef.

**CarmieJo** · 01-22-2008, 09:27 PM

I have never had a mantis but I think they would be cool! I know that Phurst and SeahorseDreams have kept mantis so I will let them tell you how they would be for a beginner. $500 for a 100 L tank is a lot. Maybe you could find someone who does custom acrylic work and could build one for less.