Idle Fish Tank - OK to Use?

[who me?]

I moved and am not able to put the fish back in the tank for a week or more.
there is about 1 inch of water left in the tank, drained so I could move
it.

are there big nasty bacteria growing in a tank with no fish? should I clean it
all and start fresh when I can place the tank in its permanent place or
will a dormant tank and filter not cause any problems.....

thx - Craig

[Amateur Cichlids]

"who me?" > wrote in message
om...
>I moved and am not able to put the fish back in the tank for a week or
>more.
> there is about 1 inch of water left in the tank, drained so I could move
> it.
>
> are there big nasty bacteria growing in a tank with no fish? should I
> clean it
> all and start fresh when I can place the tank in its permanent place or
> will a dormant tank and filter not cause any problems.....
>
> thx - Craig

When tanks sit stagnant and wet, nasty bacteria grows that is fatal to fish.
I'd drain it real well, then when you refill it, use scalding hot water and
swish it around real well. Then drain it and repeat. This should kill off
any of the harmful bacteria. If there's sand or gravel in the tank, make
sure it gets swished around real well.
Tim
www.fishaholics.org

[[email protected]]

toss teaspoon of bleach in there, swish around and rinse really well. let it sit
outside in sun for a few hours or overnight and then use dechlor even if using well
water. Ingrid

(who me?) wrote:

>I moved and am not able to put the fish back in the tank for a week or more.
>there is about 1 inch of water left in the tank, drained so I could move
>it.
>
>are there big nasty bacteria growing in a tank with no fish? should I clean it
>all and start fresh when I can place the tank in its permanent place or
>will a dormant tank and filter not cause any problems.....
>
>thx - Craig



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

[Lilly]

Bleach works well. Not sure about scalding hot water though, it may
crack the tank!

Another tried and true method is to make a slurry of table salt and
use a paper towel or your hand and give the tank a rub down. Rinse it
well and you could let it sit outside in the sun as Ingrid suggest for
a couple of days. The salt method gives me the cleanest tanks for the
least amount of effort and nasty fumes (fumes of any kind make me
wheeze).

Lilly

wrote in message >...
> toss teaspoon of bleach in there, swish around and rinse really well. let it sit
> outside in sun for a few hours or overnight and then use dechlor even if using well
> water. Ingrid