mitch126

Hi I have just had a friend give me his tank as he no longer has the time and he told me he had cleaned the tank out with washing up liquid ,I am a little concerned will this be ok it did have a lot of algea in and I guess he thought he was doing me a favour , do I need to do any thing or will it be ok after a week or two of cycleing,I would appreciate any help thanks. Mitch

Shawnie

I would give it a good rinse with some really hot water and vinegar...
Just to be sure there is no residue ....congrats!! what size is it?

Lucy

Wow, congratulations on the tank.

Unless you're seeding the tank with used filter media from an established tank or using bio-spira, it will probably take longer than 2 weeks to cycle it.
Here's some information about cycling.
http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

Do yourself and your fish a favor and cycle fish less.

Good luck.

mitch126

Thanks for your info I probably will cycle for longer as I do have another tank and am not in any mad hurry I think the tank is about 40 gals thats our english gals my friend also gave me the fish they are in my other tank so loads of time, thanks again Shawnie & Lucy

Lucy

40g, sounds good. Post some pics when you get a chance.

COBettaCouple

Yea, I'd agree with sterilizing it via a good cleaning either with hot water and vinegar or hot water and bleach (19 parts water, 1 part bleach).. followed by a thorough rinsing and drying, then a heavy overdose of dechlorinator when you set the tank up for starting the cycling on it.

It should take 3-6 weeks to cycle that tank and I would recommend using the heater at maximum to create warmer water as well as running aeration. Both help the cycling process.