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Hi All!

I'm new to the forum, but wanted to ask this question. How can I clean a used tank that will be used for mollies and guppies? The tank was housed in an area containing 3 cats, so cat hair is all over everything. Please respond quickly as my fish are waiting to be introduced to their new habitat.

First, welcome to Fishprofiles!!

Second, a nice good rinsing with warm water to get the top layer of crud off and a light scrub with a clean non-soapy brush around all the glass and silicone seals (go easy on these). You could use a very weak solution of bleach/water (approx 30:1) to disinfect anything you think may have gotten on it, but you must rinse rinse rinse rinse and rinse some more. When you're done rinsing, rinse it a few more times. Bleach will kill fish! Use it sparingly and rinse!!!!

After that, that's about it. Not much to it. If the tank was just sitting dry in someone's basement for a few years, it may not be all that smart to set it up and use it w/o testing it first. The silicone seals can dry out and leak, leading to an untimely tank failure.

Good luck!

Welcome to FP

Before you even clean the tank test it first for any leaks. If it has been in a dry location for a while and it has been used previously even if it does not leak straight away it will in the near future. Many will say just reseal it but this never works for the long term.

If you do decide to go ahead and use the tank do you fully understand the cycling process as this can take several weeks.

Personally I would get a new tank with a guarantee as this would be the best in the long term.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

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Are your fish waiting in bags? If so, an interim solution may be necessary

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Thank you so much for your insight. The tank has only been sitting for roughly 3 months, but I will still check it for leaks. No, the fish are not waiting in bags. They are still in their birthing habitat though, so I'm worried they may get eaten by the larger fish-if that sort of thing does occur. The male(s) have been removed, but I'm not sure if the female(s) and the older siblings have been relocated or not.

first of all how big is the tank and what was it used for before?

when i got my 15g from a new cousin it was previously a nano SW tank...

i didnt know much about fish keeping yet so i pull out an SOS pad and some bleach and went down on that thing in the gutter out in the front of the house...

after i had most of the salt residue removed i proceded to soak it with a 10:1 bleach solution...

after i soaked it for a day or two i dumped it and used some boiling water to clean off any residue from the chemicals...

then i tooks some clear aquariums safe silicone and even though there were no leaks i resealed the whol tank.. every seal in cluding that arround the rim and base ot the tank to improve its integrity...

i let the silicone cure the pulled out a razor blade... cleaned up the silicone arround that was excess and all over the glass then retested the tank's integrity...

the tank cleaning process is a little more than just rinsing it out! but once it is properly cleaned it can be suited for almost any habitat...

also if you tank was previously used to house a small animal (rodent, reptile, etc) the ammonia from these animals might have seeped nto the silicone and can be hazardous to any potential fish...
if it was used for this i would recommend buying a new tank all together! (especially if it is a 10gallon tank as they are cheap and plenty!)

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"