File :-(, x, )
Anonymous
dear /an/:
i have an old 20-gallon fish tank that was once full of water. the water has since evaporated, leaving salt-and-slime-encrusted decorations and glass. this was definitely my fault (procrastination, out-of-town trips). i'm planning on dumping out all the contents and cleaning it out to start over.

how should i go about this disgusting task? any recommended methods or cleaning products that won't damage the silicone caulking? tips and tricks?

pic tangentially related.
>> Anonymous
Use a siphon to drain out as much of the water as possible. Keep it down in the gravel while you do so. Then, when you've gotten as much as you can get (the siphon will start struggling to keep up suction), dump the gravel either in to a bucket (if you want to clean it and reuse it) or in to a flowerbed, backyard, dumpster, etc whatever. Fish shit makes good plant fertilizer, by the by.
Vinegar or something else acidic will work for getting rid of the build-up. Scrape it with a razor if you must-- be careful not to scratch the glass. Decorations can be soaked in a water/bleach solution (much more water than bleach), and rinsed EXTREMELY well. DO NOT put anything porous in the bleach solution, or it will leech back in to the water later and kill the fish. This should be used mostly for hard plastic stuff.
If you want to reuse the old gravel, rinse it under a sink or hose in a strainer until the water from it runs clear-- then rinse again.
Basically, you can't rinse the stuff too much, but doing it too little could kill everything you eventually put back in there.
>> Anonymous
>>200636
Also, if your water is hard, vinegar might not be enough. If it isn't, find something with a higher acid content.
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
>>200635

Pet stores should be chock full of specialized cleaners if you want to do that. Pic related.

>>200636's vinegar and bleach stuff is fine, too. Emphasis on the very light on bleach, and the lots of rinsing.
>> Anonymous
>>200636
I would use the same gravel without rinsing it if I am gona have a tank with plants. Fish shit + plants = good. This is of course if tank had no major infestation going on before breakdown.
But otherwise, yeah, I agree - scrape the shit out of it, use vinegar and bleach where it is hard to scrap.
>> Anonymous
>>200639
The main reason I suggested rinsing the gravel is because the smell would be horrific, the water would be very cloudy for a while after putting it back in, and... personally, I wouldn't like digging through it with my hands. But, OP may be less of a pussy than me.