Need a bit of tips on how to clean out an aquarium for future use.

[Jerriel]

So the recent loss of practically all 40 of my fry due to an ammonia spike came as a shock to me and I only have 7 fry left, 4 albino corys, and 2 grown female platy who are fighting a stubbern 2nd wave of ich. Due to all this I have decided to "quit" the hobby for a short amount of time until I can figure out how im gonna go through this, im still gonna have fishtanks (of course the grown ups and corys are still alive, im not just gonna give them away while they are potentially sick) but I will probably just keep them in species only established tanls, and make no further enhancements to the aquariums once they are setup, if these 7 fry dont make it, I plan to just take down the 29 gallon and put it away until I seek use in it.

So i need some help for people who have taken down tanks before, how did you go about it ?

Obviously I remove water first, and thwn somehow I wanna remove the sand without losing as much of it as possible (so I can clean it and use it in the future)

Thats really all I need help understanding right now.

 

[mattgirl]

I am sorry to hear that you lost most of your fry. I do understand how heartbreaking something like that can be so I feel for you.

I would dip out as much of the sand as I could and then siphon the rest of it out. Once you get all of it out of there just clean the inside of the glass as much as you can. Years ago when I broke my 55 down after a massive die off that is all I did. It's a long story as to what happened and why I didn't have to move it. I made sure the inside glass was clean and dry. I removed and discarded the filter media. Since I didn't have to move the tank I just covered it with decor stored inside it and the HOB filters in place.

 

[Jerriel]

I am sorry to hear that you lost most of your fry. I do understand how heartbreaking something like that can be so I feel for you.

I would dip out as much of the sand as I could and then siphon the rest of it out. Once you get all of it out of there just clean the inside of the glass as much as you can. Years ago when I broke my 55 down after a massive die off that is all I did. It's a long story as to what happened and why I didn't have to move it. I made sure the inside glass was clean and dry. I removed and discarded the filter media. Since I didn't have to move the tank I just covered it with decor stored inside it and the HOB filters in place.

Thanks this helps, I do this after I see how thos turns out, Ill probably end up using the tank for something in the future, but for now I just want to take a break so I can figure out my next move.

 

[leftswerve]

Sand is very hard to clean in the first place, so unless it is a very expensive item, I would let it go.