Cleaning large used tank by myself

[Lukeluke]

I got ahold of a big heavy tank for cheap. I don't have help handy, so moving it around, tipping it, etc. is kind of tough, but I'm trying to get it cleaned up. If I spray it down with some vinegar, and wipe it out, maybe with a fresh water soaked sponge, will that be sufficient or does it need to be thoroughly rinsed? Or would a carbon filter remove the vinegar if I ran it for a few days?

 

[nezw0001]

should be fine. vinegar rinses out easy. if pH is low you can correct with a little baking soda.

 

[Lukeluke]

should be fine. vinegar rinses out easy. if pH is low you can correct with a little baking soda.

Awesome. Thanks. So far vinegar seems to be be doing the trick, hopefully I don't need to do something more intense like BKF.

 

[Weasel1960]

Welcome to R2R. Have you done a leak test on it yet? If not kill 2 birds.... Fill it up for a couple days or so to check for leaks. That will also help dilute any residual vinegar. Pump it all out when done.

 

[Lukeluke]

Welcome to R2R. Have you done a leak test on it yet? If not kill 2 birds.... Fill it up for a couple days or so to check for leaks. That will also help dilute any residual vinegar. Pump it all out when done.

Yeah. Filling it up once and letting it run for a while was the plan either way. Just wasn't sure if that would be enough to prevent the vinegar from causing any major problems. Sounds like it should dilute it enough once I've pumped it all back out.

 

[Weasel1960]

If it was me I would use regular tap water for fill test, you could always do a couple of “water changes” during that time to further dilute. After all pumped out do a final rinse and wipe down with RODI

 

[Lukeluke]

If it was me I would use regular tap water for fill test, you could always do a couple of “water changes” during that time to further dilute. After all pumped out do a final rinse and wipe down with RODI

Good idea. Next problem to solve then is getting water to the tank.

 

[Weasel1960]

Where’s the tank? House or apartment? Running a hose into house is an option. Buy a threaded valve for end of hose to turn on/ off. Some kitchen/ laundry sinks will accept a hose connection ( might have to take aerator screen off of the faucet first)

 

[Lukeluke]

Where’s the tank? House or apartment? Running a hose into house is an option. Buy a threaded valve for end of hose to turn on/ off. Some kitchen/ laundry sinks will accept a hose connection ( might have to take aerator screen off of the faucet first)

Just trying to decide how I want to do it. Think I'm going with a faucet to hose adapter. Should be able to run the ro filter off of that too when I'm ready to fill it up for real.

 

[Lukeluke]

Well that was a minor disaster. The adapter I got didn't quite fit, but I was able to get maybe 20% of the 75 gallon tank filled. Then I realized I had water all over my bathroom floor. The 1/2 ID tubing I got, plus the height up to the tank may have created too much back pressure and water started running out from the inside of the vanity. Re-plumbing that sink may be in my future.

Also, my local Home Depot seems to be lacking in the kinds of fittings and tubing I was looking for so I settled and nothing worked/fit quite the way I wanted.

Might just suck it up and get enough hose/tube to run from the outside spigot to the tank. Once I'm mixing salt for water changes I can do that in a barrel in the garage and pump it the rest of the way to the tank.

On the plus side, the tank is holding water so far and the glass scraper I picked up works beautifully.

Heres hoping I can sleep knowing all that water is itching to get itself on to my floor. Fingers crossed.