How many times should I wash out the tank before adding fish ?

[Alan Silver]

Hello,

Well, after months of part-time work, my new fish tank is finally ready.
I have just filled it up for the first time to check all was well.

I have built a fake rock background from painted polystyrene covered
with epoxy and was thinking that I ought to fill up the tank and empty
it a couple of times to wash it out before the final fill for the fish.
This would remove any stray nasties that might be lurking from the
construction.

Any advice as to how many times I should do this ? Also, how long should
I leave the tank full before emptying it and refilling ? Is this even
necessary at all ?

Any advice appreciated. TIA

--
Alan Silver

[Bob]

if all the products you used were aquarium safe then you should not need to
do anything.

fwiw, I think the time the water soaked in the tank is much more important
than how many times you refill it.

If it was me, I'd run carbon for a few days before adding fish...that would
do a good job removing some pollutants.

don't forget to cycle your tank first.

"Alan Silver"
> wrote in
message ...
> Hello,
>
> Well, after months of part-time work, my new fish tank is finally ready.
> I have just filled it up for the first time to check all was well.
>
> I have built a fake rock background from painted polystyrene covered
> with epoxy and was thinking that I ought to fill up the tank and empty
> it a couple of times to wash it out before the final fill for the fish.
> This would remove any stray nasties that might be lurking from the
> construction.
>
> Any advice as to how many times I should do this ? Also, how long should
> I leave the tank full before emptying it and refilling ? Is this even
> necessary at all ?
>
> Any advice appreciated. TIA
>
> --
> Alan Silver
>

[Alan Silver]

In article >, Bob
> writes
>if all the products you used were aquarium safe then you should not
>need to do anything.

That's the theory, but I'm nervous about it !!

Since posting the original question (a couple of hours ago), I have
noticed that there are all sorts of things in the water that look like
they are coming off the background. This is worrying me a lot as the
background was sealed with several coats of epoxy. I'm going to leave it
a bit longer and see if it keeps going.

>fwiw, I think the time the water soaked in the tank is much more
>important than how many times you refill it.
>
>If it was me, I'd run carbon for a few days before adding fish...that
>would do a good job removing some pollutants.

That's a good idea.

>don't forget to cycle your tank first.

No need, I have the filter for it running on my old tank. It's been
there for about two months, so it should be full of bacteria by now. I
should be able to plug it into the new tank and add fish.

Thanx for the reply.

--
Alan Silver

[Timothy Chu]

Sounds like a good idea. What I'd do is use water warmer than tank
water for this process...you'll dissolve out the 'nasties' more easily
with warmer water. Keep the heater on "high" during this (a day
should do it). After draining (I'd only do one cycle), adding fresh
water, and resetting the heater, I'd add a filter (with biological
content, if possible), plants, and snails (if so inclined). If the
snails survive, that's a sign your tank may be hospitible enough for
fish after the tank cycles.

<tim><

Alan Silver > wrote in message >...
> Hello,
>
> Well, after months of part-time work, my new fish tank is finally ready.
> I have just filled it up for the first time to check all was well.
>
> I have built a fake rock background from painted polystyrene covered
> with epoxy and was thinking that I ought to fill up the tank and empty
> it a couple of times to wash it out before the final fill for the fish.
> This would remove any stray nasties that might be lurking from the
> construction.
>
> Any advice as to how many times I should do this ? Also, how long should
> I leave the tank full before emptying it and refilling ? Is this even
> necessary at all ?
>
> Any advice appreciated. TIA

[Alan Silver]

In article >, Timothy Chu
> writes
>Sounds like a good idea. What I'd do is use water warmer than tank
>water for this process...you'll dissolve out the 'nasties' more easily
>with warmer water. Keep the heater on "high" during this (a day should
>do it). After draining (I'd only do one cycle), adding fresh water, and
>resetting the heater, I'd add a filter (with biological content, if
>possible), plants, and snails (if so inclined). If the snails survive,
>that's a sign your tank may be hospitible enough for fish after the
>tank cycles.

Thanx for the idea. A couple of hours after posting, I was horrified to
see that the background appeared to be leaching all sorts of things,
mainly streams of milky substance and loads of brown particles. This
continued for the rest of the day. I put in a heater (at 76 degs F),
mainly to clear the condensation from the front glass as the water was
quite cold.

By this morning, the leaching *seems* to have stopped, although it's
hard to tell. The amount of brown particles on the floor of the tank
indicate that they are no longer coming off, but the water is very
milky.

I'm going to leave it until tonight, then drain the tank completely,
spray the background with water to wash off any more particles, empty
that all out again and refill. If the refill stays clear and clean, then
I might risk something living.

I was contemplating adding some guppies to the tank to see if they
survive. I'm certainly not using expensive fish until I'm 100% sure that
it's safe.

Thanx for the reply.

--
Alan Silver

[Jim Morcombe]

After using Epoxy paint, you are meant to fill the tank, leave it overnight
and then empty it and fill it again.

However, I usually do it twice.

I'd do it more, except I am always really impatient by the time I reach this
stage :)

Jim

Alan Silver
> wrote in
message ...
> Hello,
>
> Well, after months of part-time work, my new fish tank is finally ready.
> I have just filled it up for the first time to check all was well.
>
> I have built a fake rock background from painted polystyrene covered
> with epoxy and was thinking that I ought to fill up the tank and empty
> it a couple of times to wash it out before the final fill for the fish.
> This would remove any stray nasties that might be lurking from the
> construction.
>
> Any advice as to how many times I should do this ? Also, how long should
> I leave the tank full before emptying it and refilling ? Is this even
> necessary at all ?
>
> Any advice appreciated. TIA
>
> --
> Alan Silver
>

[Alan Silver]

In article >, Jim Morcombe
> writes
>After using Epoxy paint, you are meant to fill the tank, leave it
>overnight and then empty it and fill it again.
>
>However, I usually do it twice.

I'm on my second fill at the moment, but I don't think it's going to be
left at that. I can see what look like streams of dissolved epoxy coming
off the background. There's no way I'm putting *anything* living in
there until that's stopped.

It's significantly less than it was yesterday, but I'm going to fill,
soak and empty at least once more before I risk a snail or guppy to see
if it's safe.

>I'd do it more, except I am always really impatient by the time I reach
>this stage :)

Impatient is one way of describing it. Unfortunately, my fears of what
is going on in that tank override that impatience.

--
Alan Silver