# Sterilizing an Aquarium



## Joeee (Apr 3, 2010)

How could I sterilize a 32G aquarium? I have a turtle in there right now, but I think it might be wise to find out how I can sterilize the aquarium for fish use. I'm considering rehoming the turtle in a rubbermaid container (which I used before). I was thinking that I put it in my backyard, scrub it down with water, then scrub it down with hydrogen peroxide and rinse it off with the hose. I don't know if this is a bad idea or not but what if I were to pour boiling water on it? I have a friend, whose mother poured boiling water in his aquarium to kill his snake (horrible story, really).


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## MattDunbar (Aug 4, 2010)

I'm not too sure about what glass can handle, but in sterilizing glass bottles, I've never seen an issue with hot water. Don't quote me, as I don't know if it could cause cracks or anything of the sort, but hot water has always worked with glass bottles for me.

By hot water I mean boiling usually in a pot then poured right into the bottle.


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## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

Food Jammers the show on Food Network did an episode where they made a ramen broth maker and drilled out an aquarium and loaded it up with ~80C temp hot water. I'm not saying ot do that but good to know the tank can handle it and I think it was about a 30gal tank they used. 

You can sterlize your tank using a 1 part bleach to 20 parts water ratio and IIRC let water stand for 60mins, rinse, refill, dose with 4 times (some paranoid people use 6-8x the dose) prime dosage then use the tank as you normally would or soak it in that prime water then drain that water then fill it up and use it as normal.

That is what I've gathered IIRC from what was told to me as I asked about this before here and had gotten feedback on that. IIRC 1:20 is a general ratio tho 2:10 or 5:10 ratios pending what you want to do. I'm not sure if some diesases (sp) can survive a 1:20 or 2:10 ratio.


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

A 1/20 dilution of household bleach followed by a 3x overdose of Prime will be fine for sterilization.


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## ryno1974 (Dec 6, 2009)

Why sterilize at all? A little bit of a vinegar scrub and a hot water rinse should be fine. Turtles are no worse than fish, shouldnt be an issue unless the tank was really out of control before you took it down.


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## bae (May 11, 2007)

You're taking a big risk pouring hot water in a tank -- glass cracks easily when it's exposed to sharp temperature gradients. Glass jars and bottles can crack, too, although they're sometimes designed to be more resistant, e.g. glass coffee mugs and baby bottles. Often what happens is that the glass has a minor scratch or other flaw, and the crack starts from that, so a used tank is more likely to fail than a brand new one.

I tend to agree that sterilization is unnecessary, although turtles can harbor Salmonella, which is more of a risk for you than for the fish. Wash it thoroughly with water, use vinegar to get off the hard water deposits, and if you really want to, wipe with bleach or soak in 1:10 or 1:20 bleach to water, then rinse a whole lot to get it all out.

Peroxide will work, and won't leave a residue, but you have to give it more time to act than straight bleach.

Note that exposure to strong direct sunlight kills microbes, too. It's the UV rays that do it.

Btw, if you are determined to clean your tank outdoors, be sure to have it on a very flat and level surface if you plan to fill it. Putting a thick layer of newspaper underneath wouldn't hurt either. Aquarium glass scratches readily, and there's a lot of grit outdoors!


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## Joeee (Apr 3, 2010)

I'll use bleach.

I don't think sterilization is unnecessary, although I think there's a very low chance that my turtle has salmonella (some of the tank water went into my mouth when I was changing the water >.<). It's always better to be safe than sorry (yes, that is an oversimplified adage), as I'm not sure if there is any parasite or fungus that can be transferred from turtle to fish (my turtle had fungus O_O). I have to take the take outside anyway to get rid of some of the crap stuck to the sides of the tank. It's not much effort to wipe it down with bleach and rinse it afterwards.


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## qwerty (Dec 15, 2009)

Liquid ammonia works...

Worst case scenario you somehow don't rinse all of the ammonia out, not a big deal because 1) you have water tests that can test for it easily 2) you should have a cycled filter that'll take care of it anyways...


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## Joeee (Apr 3, 2010)

I just realized something:

What if I leave my aquarium outside and a bird poops on it? O_O


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

bae said:


> Btw, if you are determined to clean your tank outdoors, be sure to have it on a very flat and level surface if you plan to fill it. Putting a thick layer of newspaper underneath wouldn't hurt either.


This is good advice. More than a few people have lost tanks, including some big ones, while "testing" for leaks outdoors. It doesn't matter where you set up a tank, it needs to be on a level flat surface.


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

Joeee said:


> I just realized something:
> 
> What if I leave my aquarium outside and a bird poops on it? O_O


Then you will need to clean it


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