Help Me Clean My Dirty Tank

Good morning my fellow fish lovers
It’s been a while I haven't post anything but I got a slight problem that some people may be able to help me with:

I’ve been working in another state for about a month and 2 weeks. I left my cousin in charge of my tank. Long story short. The tank is really dirty. I’ve never seen it this dirty.

How may I go about cleaning it Without hurting my fishes or damaging the tank??
What should I use to clean it?(I was thinking a lil vinegar n water?

I have a idea but I’d love to hear from others
Please give me a few tips
Thanks in advance

 

Are we talking total tear down dirty? If so I would do just plain ole hot water. I'm too nervous I wouldn't rinse a spot good enough or something if I used anything else. Hopefully you don't have sand substrate..ugh that would be a nightmare in my book.

 

First things first. Club your cousin over the head. Lol. I usually use a new kitchen sponge with the scrubby back and salt for an abvrasive if needed. I think others have used the mister clean magic eraser.

 

what kind of "dirty" are we talking about?

a lot of in the substrate? heavy algae growth on everything? scum on the glass?

decorations, you can use hydrogen peroxide, after it reacts, its harmless, just turns to water and oxygen.

for the glass, a handful of polyfill should get most of the scum off. then you can vacuum, and water change. and do another vacuum and water change a few days later.

the water will probably be too dirty, so get a bucket of dechlorinated water and rinse out the filter media.

 

If it is a tear down you could use regular Dawn dish soap (yes it is safe when rinsed properly) or a heavy salt solution with a scrubbing pad (not for acrylic) as david1978 suggested.

 

I’m really sorry for the late reply. I had a few problems

Ann Daniel. I’m not talking about a total tear down. I have fishes in my tank. But lol I did take out 90% of my sand

david1978. Lol o trust me. He got felt those hands
I used a new sponge

Skavatar
Yesss all of that

I just finish scrubbing the glass with a new sponge. It will much better already
On Friday I’ll clean some more then do a water change.
On Saturday afternoon I’ll be getting more fish