Do sanitize a used tank?

[ReefPup]

I purchased my tank secondhand and it has previously been used as a reef tank. Do I need to sanitize it and the pump it came with before I use them?

 

[Fish Fan]

If it's used, it probably needs some cleaning anyway. I'd give the tank and pump a good cleaning using some mild vinegar or citric acid solution, and in the process the acid solution should sanitize as well as clean your tank. Rinse well, and you should be good to go.

You could use a little bleach and water to really sanitize it. Rise well, and allow the the tank to fully dry (in the sun if possible), and any remaining bleach will be neutralized. Rise again, and you're good to go. I like doing this sometimes, but it's probably overkill.

Good luck!

 

[fishywishy]

I would just wipe it down with a wet and dry paper towel and let it dry in the sun afterwards.

 

[PharmrJohn]

Be sure to inspect the seals. My one and only foray into a used tank ended badly. It leaked, leading to a 3 day adventure and a tank swap. Yeah......THAT was a lot of fun. Ugh!

 

[AetherealKnight]

Load it with freshwater and leave it outside for a couple of days to see if it will leak. Should kill any saltwater diseases (ich and velvet) as well if you're worried about that.

 

[ReefPup]

So I live in an apartment in the city so I can't really leave it outside or in the sun. How much vinegar to gallon should I do and should I just run the pump in the vinegar solution as well?

 

[AetherealKnight]

Well in that case you can do it inside but just make you check for leaks. I think using vinegar is a bit of an overkill but if you must I would do one cup per gallon. I don't think the ratio matters as long as there is a decent amount vinegar in it.

However do NOT run your pump in vinegar solution. It will destroy your pump. Try using citric acid (you can buy it from your local grocery store as a powder), it's less destructive as vinegar and works great to clean pumps and powerheads.

 

[Fish Fan]

So I live in an apartment in the city so I can't really leave it outside or in the sun. How much vinegar to gallon should I do and should I just run the pump in the vinegar solution as well?

I recommended the vinegar because a previously used tank will almost always have salt creep and mineral deposits that need to be cleaned off, and the acid will sanitize the tank in the process, if that's a concern for you. I don't think the concentration is super important. I scrub tanks themselves with full strength vinegar, but soak pumps and things in somewhere around a 50/50 mix of vinegar and water. Some people use an even more diluted solution so they don't hurt pump seals and rings, but I've never personally had that problem. I don't usually run the pump in the solution, just soak it long enough to scrub any deposits off of it.

Some reefers prefer citric acid as it's said to be a little easier on pumps and things. Both Citric Acid and vinegar (acetic acid) are considered "weak acids" in chemistry talk.

Some reefers are using a dilute solution made from Muriatic (hydrochloric acid) to clean pumps and tanks and things. I think this is entirely nuts. Hydrochloric acid is a very strong acid, it must be used and handled with care, and could easily cause a serious injury if misused. I'd stick with the weaker acids for anyone wanting to try this.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

What size tank are we talking about?

How does it look in terms of deposits?

If there are deposits, I'd worry more about things like copper than disease from a dry tank.

 

[ReefPup]

What size tank are we talking about?

How does it look in terms of deposits?

If there are deposits, I'd worry more about things like copper than disease from a dry tank.

Its a 32 gallon tank with not a lot of deposits, I could probably just scrub them off with some vinegar I'm just mostly worried about illness that could still be in the tank. I read that some of the illnesses can stay in a fallow tank for quite a while. So I just wanted to make sure the tank and pump it came with are safe to use with new livestock.

 

[ReefPup]

Also it was an AIO and I removed the AIO area cause I'm gonna put a sump in and there was a lot of crud in that space.

 

[SPS2020]

I'd just clean it with some citric acid and call it a day. I hate the smell of vinegar and clorox. lol

 

[ReefPup]

I'd just clean it with some citric acid and call it a day. I hate the smell of vinegar and clorox. lol

I have powdered citric acid I use for my CO2 generator for my freshwater tank. How much would I mix into water to clean the tank. Also can I use it to clean my pump as well?

 

[SPS2020]

I use about 3\4 cup to a gallon of warm water and yes, it is great for cleaning pumps! For my protein skimmer, I use a five gallon bucket and put the whole thing there and let it run overnight.

 

[Fish Fan]

I'd worry more about things like copper than disease from a dry tank.

For another thread, I did a lot of research about using a tank after it had been used for copper treatment, as I've always heard that you cannot reuse a tank for inverts once it's had copper in it. Of course, I found a lot of reefers arguing for and against this idea, but in the end there was a reply that you wrote on another post where you indicated that copper does not interact with, specifically, the silicon in the tank, and therefore it would be safe to use even after it had been used as a copper QT tank. Now you seem to be expressing some concern about previous copper use. Am I mistaken?

EDIT:

I found the post of yours that I was thinking of (I'm sorry I'm not cool enough to just quote it here):

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/c...erted-back-to-a-reef-tank.643737/post-6445601

Quote:

My worry would be copper soaked into the silicon, I don't think any amount of bleach and rinsing would get rid of that.

I do not think copper ion soaks into silicon (the blue stains from freshwater tanks is likely methylene blue), and any that did would be extremely slow to redissolve.

The bigger concern is any sort of calcium carbonate deposits or organic matter deposits, both of which can bind substantial copper and require very good cleaning to use the tank.
/Quote

I'm now reminded that your concern is for any copper or other medications that are bound to any deposits in the tank, and not so much the tank itself. I think I answered my own question above, but that just seems to me to be another reason to use vinegar or citric acid to thoroughly clean out a used tank. I do this anyway just so the tank looks nice, but if it helps get rid of any potential old copper and/or sanitize the tank as well, then +1, right?

Thank you for your help! I've been a listening to your advice since the old ReefCentral days

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I found a lot of reefers arguing for and against this idea, but in the end there was a reply that you wrote on another post where you indicated that copper does not interact with, specifically, the silicon in the tank, and therefore it would be safe to use even after it had been used as a copper QT tank. Now you seem to be expressing some concern about previous copper use. Am I mistaken?

The follow discussion covers my concerns.

What I said in the past, I still believe, and what I wrote here was:

How does it look in terms of deposits?

If there are deposits, I'd worry more about things like copper than disease from a dry tank.

I also believe that is true. Copper will bind to calcium carbonate and organic materials that may be stuck to the glass. I'd remove them.