# any salvaging a tank accidentally cleaned with ammonium chloride?



## gummybunny (9 mo ago)

hi all. i was recently cleaning and disinfecting an old fish tank that was super grimy and gross, and accidentally used ammonium chloride disenfectant (likely with some kind of soap due to the suds) instead of only bleach, i messed up which spray bottle i use as it's been a long time since doing any aquarium care (was in the hobby years ago, stopped due to depression etc) and now i'm sort-of panicking. is there any way to salvage the glass tank after it's been sprayed with something like that? i've already rinsed the hell out of it, and there are no fish in it yet as i've not yet purchased them, so i haven't had any live or die on me to know. should i just bite the bullet and get a whole new aquarium, or will i eventually be able to rinse it clean enough for fish? i'm not opposed to doing more cleaning/rinsing on it, but i don't want to kill new friends by accident either if it's going to be unsafe no matter what. any advice?


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## QWC (Mar 27, 2017)

If it's just ammonium chloride, I believe that is used in fishless cycling. So it should be fine. 

Googling "ammonium chloride aquarium" should have more info.


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## gummybunny (9 mo ago)

QWC said:


> If it's just ammonium chloride, I believe that is used in fishless cycling. So it should be fine.
> 
> Googling "ammonium chloride aquarium" should have more info.


i don't think it was just ammonium chloride though, unless that stuff is supposed to bubble up like soap. i think there's some kind of detergent in there as well which makes me think it'd be unsafe.


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## Lee_D (Jun 11, 2010)

gummybunny said:


> i don't think it was just ammonium chloride though, unless that stuff is supposed to bubble up like soap. i think there's some kind of detergent in there as well which makes me think it'd be unsafe.


Put the tank on a flat stable surface (Like it's stand) and fill it full of water. Add a filter to circulate the water, and let it run for a few days. I'm sure whatever else was in the bottle will be biodegradable so it will disappear with time. Then toss the water and start as you normally would.

Lee


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