Accidental Chemical Introduction

[squid row]

This is kind of long but I set up a 72 gallon tank from scratch two weeks ago.

Somewhere in the water making process a chemical was introduced. it was either from an exterminator or house cleaning, I have no way to determine which.

There is no live stock in the tank, just sand and "Life Rock" from Caribsea.

I tried doing massive water changes with no luck in getting the skimmer to calm down from foaming so much it looked like a bubble bath, then started noticing much larger affects. The skimmer, tank glass and hoses are all coated in a slime like blueish gray substance, this accelerated after trying to use carbon to help remove whatever it is.

So, after much deliberation I drained all the water, removed the rocks and all the equipment and gave everything a vinegar bath which helped a lot but not 100%

Right now the rocks and equipment are soaking in the bath tub in fresh water after their vinegar bath. Pics attached show what a clear pvc hose looked like after I removed it from the return pump compared to a new hose and some of the bubbling that is still occurring in the fresh water flush/bath

So my question is what else can I do besides throwing everything away?

My goal was to set up a FOWLR tank initially and then after it was established, add in some coral and eventually become a mixed reef tank

 

[thegrun]

You are doing just about everything you can, but honestly I would toss everything, you are always going to wonder if every little problem you have is poison related, and it may be.

 

[mcgyvr]

Without knowing there is nothing short of 100% trashing everything that you can do to endure you are "safe"..
If we knew there is a possibility that the SDS (safety datasheet) gave information on possible toxicity, possible neutralization methods,etc..

A "slime like blueish gray substance" could just be bacterial film which is very normal in a new tank and even more so/more visible when there is no water movement/pumps in the tank stirring it up..

As its a 75G tank its only a few hundred dollars if that to replace everything..
Tank should be able to be completely cleaned but the rocks may have absorbed something that could be problematic..

Or get it up and running and take your chances.. Starting out with some what could be "sacrificial fish" to start and see how they do along with a few inverts to check for other low level toxicity issues..

It also would not hurt to run a bunch of carbon in a media bag (but reactor would be better) which should also remove some potential toxins..
Even throw a "polyfilter" in and let it do its thing..