Hi there! Just got my first tank and it's a 125 gal! Previous owner had a turtle in it and filled it with a 10% bleach solution before he sold it to me to eliminate any pathogens that might pass from turtles to fish. Right now the tank is empty and has a thin whitish scum on it's sides and more on it's bottom that tends to rub off with a finger swipe.

I'm not sure what this is but I need to get it out of there before I fill it for fish. Assuming it may be some chlorine what cleaner should I use to clean it? Guy that sold it to me said not to use any hard core household cleaners, so I'm not sure where I should start.

I'm all ears. Thanks!

Use vinegar and water, it will cut the scum and then rinse real well.

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From the looks of all the inputs I've gotten here and other places, it looks like I should possibly razor the scum off first, and then I should scrub down the tank using specifically white vinegar (and not cider vinegar) using either a green scrubbie or a soft cloth. I'm left wondering if the green scrubbie I've read mentioned is the 3M type that's part of the one piece yellow sponge / green scrub cleaning tool. If you were doing this to your own glass tank, what scrub implement would you advise?

And then after the scrubbing I should fill with a triple dose of Prime dechlorinator and let sit for a day, and then rinse very well and then let air dry for two days.

All this seem straight forward and logical to me. If you might see anything that could be added to this protocol please let me know and I'll do it.

Last thing is that a couple folks have asked me if I've read about cycling your tank. I haven't, but I'd like to read anything I can on it. If anyone can point me in the right direction on reading about cycling I'd be happy to look at anything I can on it.

Thanks

Get a couple of quarts of distilled vinegar. Take the tank and set it on its side on the ground or floor or wherever you have it. Take the vinegar and pour it straight into the tank. The level will fill enough to cover the entire pane without spilling out of the tank. Once the whole surface is covered, stop adding venegar. Let it sit for about 1hr. Get a glass safe scrubber and scrub. If it doesn't all come off, let it sit a little longer. Once you do the first side, shift the tank to the other side, and then do the ends last. You may loose some vinegar when you shift to the ends. I would use straight vinegar.

I have used the green scrubber and the ones with the sponge attached to it with no problem. You should always check to make sure it isn't causing scratches.

Yesterday I poured in 2 gal of white vinegar to let it sit on the bottom, where the thickest layers of whitish deposit are. Today I can see clearly through the bottom of the tank, no scum. So, now I'm wanting to do the same process for all the other sides of this 72" x 18" x 24" behemoth. But that means sitting it at angles it may not be designed to handle. To get at the front and back sides I'm pretty sure it would be ok stress wise if I turned the empty aquarium forward laying it on it's face or back. What I'd more be concerned about is that, to get at soaking the ends it would require tilting the tank completely 90 deg sideways and standing it on it's 18" x 24" end glass, with the weight of 6 feet of aquarium towering above pressing down on it. Are these things built that tough that it would be ok to sit one on it's side like that for 24 hours?

Thanks

You only need to soak each side for around 15 mins. A little longer if there are tough stains but it sounds like it isn't too bad. Then use your scraper. The tank will be fine as long as you work carefully. A 6' tank can be awkward to work with.

I dont know if this is a No No or not. but i used Simple green on an empty tank then once it was clean i rinsed the hell out of it. Its been running for a few months no problem. But the scum wiped off with a paper towel using that method.

As per the advice I've received I'm about to turn my tank over on each side so that I can soak all of em with a vinegar and water solution to break down hard water scum. But before I do this I want to silicone seal the top edge of the tank all the way around (sealing glass to the plastic ring at the top) to make sure I have no leaks. Is there any particular type of silicone I should use to do this? Or will just any old Home Depot style clear silicone caulk do the job?

I was just at home desperate, there is a specific one they have. It says aquarium safe on it! Other silicons have things in it that prevent mold and is not good for fish. Good luck!

Look for GE Silicone I.

And...you didn't hear this from me but .... the stuff labeled specifically for aquarium use is the exact same product as GE Silicone I. It just labeled differently for a $$ mark up. ;o)

Yeah the GE silicon I is the same stuff as the aquarium sealant.You get more for your buck too.

But you didnt hear that from James.

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This scum is some really tough stuff! I've had the aquarium with it's front side down soaking under a thin layer of 100% vinegar for 3 days, emptied it out, scrubbed it hard for 30 minutes with an glass safe scrubber I got at the aquarium shop, let it dry out and the scums still there! The glass actually looked fairly clear when the vinegar was in there. The scum seems to make itself apparent mostly only after the glass has dried.

Frustrated!

Although the tank doesn't have many scratches on the inside (other than the bottom) the previous owner had been using it for keeping turtles. I would imagine the water level was fairly low allowing humidity to form toward the top, which is where the glass seems to be really stained. Not thick so much as it's just really hard to get off.

If there's no better advice I suppose the next thing I'll try is mounting the scrub pad to my drill, setting it on the glass and just spinning the crap out of it. It would be set flat against the glass just like if you were scrubbing by hand but it would be moving much faster.

Any more advice please?