Concentration of vinegar for cleaning tank?
- Thread starter Dmorty217
- Start date
Vinegar dissolves a lot of calcium based build up. Its Great.
Vinegar is cheap, I have been pouring a gallon into a about a 30 gallon tub filled 2/3's for cleaning old gear. Dissolved most tube worm skeletons in less than a day, doesn't work as fast as HCL on Coraline algae, that needs 2-3 days. As far as killing off cysts, a full thorough drying should be all you need, but while it is down, might as well brighten things up.
Vinegar is cheap, I have been pouring a gallon into a about a 30 gallon tub filled 2/3's for cleaning old gear. Dissolved most tube worm skeletons in less than a day, doesn't work as fast as HCL on Coraline algae, that needs 2-3 days. As far as killing off cysts, a full thorough drying should be all you need, but while it is down, might as well brighten things up.
Dmorty217
Saltwater Addict
Honestly I thought about using both.
I thought that too about the tank being dry and cysts being killed but the tank in question was empty from July until December and when I pt new fish in I had the same result from what I assume was velvet again. I can't explain what happened hence why Im going the vinegar/bleach route
tassod
New member
Dont use both, combining vinegar and bleach will create a toxic gas :uhoh3:
Spar
New member
ive been wondering the same thing to use to clean out a used chiller i just bought.
i know people clean with vinegar to kill off parasites/cysts, but i haven't seen any concrete evidence/research that shows that it works as well as bleach does. maybe there is something i have just missed or forgotten.
i know people clean with vinegar to kill off parasites/cysts, but i haven't seen any concrete evidence/research that shows that it works as well as bleach does. maybe there is something i have just missed or forgotten.
Dmorty217
Saltwater Addict
HAHA ,I meant one then the other
Dmorty217
Saltwater Addict
I was told before " just let the stuff dry and you will be fine" well I did that and then lost 1K worth of fish so Im not betting on that anymore
Spar
New member
referring to letting vinegar to dry? or bleach?
Dmorty217
Saltwater Addict
Letting the equipment dry regardless of what was used
I know a lot of people say bleach is used all the time but I can't make myself do it. When I clean my tanks for TTM I use straight vinegar on the small things and let them sit for about 20 minutes then rinse with really hot water. After that they air dry. The tank I get vinegar on every surface let it sit a few then rinse well with hot water. Just a thought if you are REALLY paranoid about there still being issues with velvet in the stuff... couldn't you treat the water with copper for a bit just to be extra certain? I assume though that you already treated with copper based meds and the fish ended up Velvet free? If that is the case one would be lead to believe the Velvet should be gone from the tank system due to the copper being there.
I just can't make myself use bleach with anything that touches my tanks. I even did this with the TTM using copper for velvet and had no issues (yes, TTM could have been canned the moment Velvet was found BUT I was able to keep copper levels much more stable by not messing with significant water changes to manage water quality and rather flipping into a new tank every 70ish hours with the needed copper levels. Worked well and has since had new fish in QT in those tanks after cleaning them with vinegar and drying- no velvet present on the new fish)
I just can't make myself use bleach with anything that touches my tanks. I even did this with the TTM using copper for velvet and had no issues (yes, TTM could have been canned the moment Velvet was found BUT I was able to keep copper levels much more stable by not messing with significant water changes to manage water quality and rather flipping into a new tank every 70ish hours with the needed copper levels. Worked well and has since had new fish in QT in those tanks after cleaning them with vinegar and drying- no velvet present on the new fish)
Vinny Kreyling
Premium Member
I would use the bleach then a chlorine remover.
Westcoastindia
New member
Has anyone tried oxalic acid?
Dmorty217
Saltwater Addict
I don't run QTs with just PVC in them, way too unnatural and stressful for the fish. There is Sera Siproax and rock in the tank along with a heater and return pump that has been running in vinegar for 2 days and last night I added a large dose of formalin. will empty and refill with freshwater several times tomorrow. I did this with freshwater and CP and formalin last month on a much larger scale and it worked well.
tylersarah
Member
I was just reading in one of my fish books that bleach should be used for disinfection and sterilization. It said that 35 ml bleach per 10 liters of water for 24 hrs then add sodium thiosulfate to neutralize chlorine. From Diseases in Marine Aquarium Fish by Bassleer
Dmorty217
Saltwater Addict
Thank you.
