Disinfecting a 210 gal tank

[pandadoc]

Hello Lee,

I have read your post regarding disinfecting a quarantine tank that has had active Ick or other fish disease in it that was treated without using copper. However, how does one do this with a large, heavy tank? I am swapping my 120g reef tank for a friend's 210 gal All Glass tank simultaneously. The problem is that his tank had some type of disease that virtually wiped out all his fish. I did not see his fish, but he thought that it was Ick. This occurred last week. He didn't treat the tank, but has merely moved out all his fish. At this point his tank still has live rock and some soft corals in it. I need to make the switch fairly rapidly because: 1) I only have a 30 gal and 20 gal quarantine tank to house some 30 fish in my tank: chromis, Bartlet anthias, Blue throat trigger, yellow tang, mystery wrasse, algae blenny, red scooter blenny, blue throat sleeper goby, 2) I have about 20 colonies and frags of SPS that I do not have additional metal halides to cover during the swap, and 3) I only have 4 days to accomplish the task since I'm leaving town for about a week.

Since my friend and I are both breaking down our tanks at the same time in preparation for the swap and I will need to have his stand painted which will take at least one day and overnight to dry.

Any suggestions on how to get out the rinsed off vinegar and rinsed off bleach solutions used to disinfect this new tank? If I used a pump to remove the rinsed vinegar and bleach water, there is always some water at the bottom of a tank. Since this new tank is some 350 lbs empty and more with even a little bit of rinsed water at the bottom, is there another way to get rid of that last bit? Blot it with towels? Have 4 hefty guys flip the tank upside down to let the water drain out?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[IWishIWasAFish]

Empty and blot, and allow to fully dry. I believe(someone confirm?) that the active ingredients in both bleach and vinegar are volatile compounds, and will dissipate completely.

 

[mfinn]

Empty and blot, and allow to fully dry.

+1

that's what I would do.
maybe mix a strong solution of dechlorinator in a small amount of water and wipe that around the tank and then blot dry.

 

[FreakinReefin]

Hello Lee,

I have read your post regarding disinfecting a quarantine tank that has had active Ick or other fish disease in it that was treated without using copper. However, how does one do this with a large, heavy tank? I am swapping my 120g reef tank for a friend's 210 gal All Glass tank simultaneously. The problem is that his tank had some type of disease that virtually wiped out all his fish. I did not see his fish, but he thought that it was Ick. This occurred last week. He didn't treat the tank, but has merely moved out all his fish. At this point his tank still has live rock and some soft corals in it. I need to make the switch fairly rapidly because: 1) I only have a 30 gal and 20 gal quarantine tank to house some 30 fish in my tank: chromis, Bartlet anthias, Blue throat trigger, yellow tang, mystery wrasse, algae blenny, red scooter blenny, blue throat sleeper goby, 2) I have about 20 colonies and frags of SPS that I do not have additional metal halides to cover during the swap, and 3) I only have 4 days to accomplish the task since I'm leaving town for about a week.

Since my friend and I are both breaking down our tanks at the same time in preparation for the swap and I will need to have his stand painted which will take at least one day and overnight to dry.

Any suggestions on how to get out the rinsed off vinegar and rinsed off bleach solutions used to disinfect this new tank? If I used a pump to remove the rinsed vinegar and bleach water, there is always some water at the bottom of a tank. Since this new tank is some 350 lbs empty and more with even a little bit of rinsed water at the bottom, is there another way to get rid of that last bit? Blot it with towels? Have 4 hefty guys flip the tank upside down to let the water drain out?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

You could always go hyposalinity for a while. But if it is empty you might as well get a bleach spray bottle...maybe 1:5 water and spray it down and wipe it out. Vinegar is too dang smelly for me to put up with but that should work as well. Bleach is my vote though.

 

[pandadoc]

Thanks guys, good ideas.

 

[thatguy559]

if only his fish died you should be good with a simple clean out if everything died in there in some mass killing spree. like a chemical (copper)even if he said he didnt use it you wont know until its to late that stuff will stay in the silicone to be released again some other time. as far as a biological death like ick then some vinegar and water will solve it.

i have the same size tank and i just tilt the tank to one side drain as much as possible then just letting it air dry. and if you cant wait for that then i would just use paper towels because towels you previously washed might still have detergent in it . hth

 

[pandadoc]

Only half his fish died. The rest he took out to treat in a quarantine tank. His invertebrates and soft corals also survived. He removed them and tried to do hyposalinity in his display, but never finished the treatment.

When you tip the tank, do you tip it in the front to back direction or the side to side direction?

Yes, using paper towels sounded like the best idea.

 

[ac7av]

Just don’t put in any of the old live rock in the contaminated tank with out treating the rock to a 2 month time out. If you clean the tank with vinegar or bleach, rinse and dry the tank you ready to go. Its a big tank so you may want to do in quarters. The fumes can get to you. I cleaned my 210 standing on its side so it looked like a phone booth. Easer then leaning over the edge cleaning the tank

 

[pandadoc]

He's taking out his live rock and sand and I'm putting in only my rock and sand so it should be OK. Thanks for the tip on standing the tank upright. Does it put a lot of stress on the seams when you do that?

 

[thatguy559]

+1 for ac7 comments

 

[ac7av]

He's taking out his live rock and sand and I'm putting in only my rock and sand so it should be OK. Thanks for the tip on standing the tank upright. Does it put a lot of stress on the seams when you do that?

I really doubt it put any stress on anything. Just put a towel on the floor to keep the trim from scratching or getting scratch. Don’t ask me how I know that. 2 people is definitely required because of the size and weight. If you try and do it your self and it gets away form you it could be real hard on the toes. I forget what the weight of my tank is but its heavy even empty.

 

[pandadoc]

I believe it is somewhere around 350 lbs dry.

 

[BCT182]

One other thing to consider. Your leaving town for a week. I would wait to make any changes until you are back. I myself have had to do a unexpected emergency water change or repair a leak that's discovered after switching tanks. You want to address these unforseen issues sooner than later. Transfering livestock from tank to tank is still porbably cause a small cycle and I wouldn't want to leave my tank unattended a whole week during such a crucial time.

 

[pandadoc]

Good point! I do have a skilled reef aquarist who would be monitoring my tank twice a day while I am away, but he would only be there early AM and late PM to feed fish and monitor corals. What were the issues involved when you had to do an emergency water change? I plan on using most of the water from my 120g and I am in the process of making additional new water to fill up to 210. My system has automatic water change 24/7 using Litermeter III dosing pumps. I've been exchanging 50% of the water per month in slow incremental changes occurring constantly.

 

[leebca]

Use rags and sponges with the indicated liquids.

Wherever you read rinse or wash, just use sponges and/or clean rags dampened with the liquid.

 

[pandadoc]

Okay! If I understand correctly, this means that relatively small amounts of liquids are used to "rinse" the inside of the tank?

 

[leebca]

Correct. Wear gloves in this case and make liquid contact with the container/tank wall. 'Rinsing' is a bit more time consuming, requiring that you rinse out the sponge or cloth frequently.