How to clean an used reef tanks

[al404]

I need to clean a sever years reef tank, with coralline algae incrustation and some hard green algae on the glass.

Is a 15G tank so I can feel it with fresh water.

At first I thought to add some vinegar but I read that can deteriorate silicon.

If I leave it for 2/3 days full of freshwater does the coralline and green algae star to die and would come off pretty easily?

The worst part is on corners.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I don't know where you read that vinegar will 'deteriorate' silicone, but it doesn't. I've soaked tanks for days with vinegar and even with stronger solutions of muriatic acid and I've never had an issue with silicon.

I laid the tank on it's side and filled it with full strength vinegar until it wants to run out of the tank. I leave it for 24 hours if it's really encrusted. Then I use a fine stainless steel blade and clean the glass. It takes 4 or 5 days to get all 4 sides and the bottom done, but it works perfectly.

 

[al404]

I found the information online, could not be correct.

I alway kind of warried going with a blade in the corner.

Did you ever try to leave fresh water only to see if algae will die off?

 

[nereefpat]

The algae will die in freshwater. It will also die if you empty the tank.

Vinegar and a razor blade works well. For the corners with silicone, a nylon brush would be less harsh.

 

[Aquavaj]

Just because the algae and coraline has dried up and died doesn't mean it'll peel or flake off easily. That is why you'll need to soak it in vinegar and even then will have to go at it with a razor blade for the stubborn areas or if it's really bad.

 

[d0ughb0y]

when I cleaned my 60 gallon tank, I just filled it with freshwater and 1 gallon vinegar (so 1:60 dilution) and ran powerhead for 24 hours. After that, most coraline are gone and the rest was easy to scrape off.


I think vinegar affects silicone if you use full strength and soak too long (like more than a couple hours).


for a 15 gallon tank, you need only 4 cups of vinegar.

 

[squeakymcmurdo]

It is safe to use diluted bleach to clean tanks and equipment if you are worried about diseases. When you're done either put it out in the sun or run a product like Seachem Prime through with some water to neutralize the chlorine.