New guy / de-calcify used tank...

[larrysc3]

Hello all, I am new here so this is my first post and my first salt tank.

I recently purchased a used 135gal tank that has some calcium buildup on all 5 panels. It is not that thick but is clouding all of the glass pretty significantly. I have read that vinegar and water and a really nice overnight soak it the way to go. I wanted to get other users experiences or tips on their tank prep.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and advice.

 

[ringo®]

Vinegar should do the trick. Quite honestly......once it's full, you probably wouldn't even notice.

 

[rodasphoto]

+1 Vinegar

 

[nickg]

Yep Vinegar will do the trick... You could even use the Vinegar Windex. NOT regular, but vinegar...

 

[bulkrate]

Plain old white vinegar mixed with RO in a 1:5 ratio + a decent powerhead to move it around should do the bulk of the work for you. You can get larger jugs of it at Costco/Sams/Walmart or restaurant supply stores.

 

[giulianom]

You can use gallon bottles of distilled (diluted) white vinegar, but to fill a 135 gallon tank with all vinegar would be ridiculous.

You could also take a couple of gallons of vinegar and dilute it even further by filling up the tank, but it would take a fairly long time for that diluted acid to work against the calcium deposits.


You could lay the tank flat and let a shallow pool of vinegar rest on the glass pane to let it work...


In any case, your house will have a very pungent smell with all that vinegar in the air.

 

[ringo®]

GiulianoM;919396 wrote:

In any case, your house will have a very pungent smell with all that vinegar in the air.

Throw in some chicken wings and hot sauce and it's a heck of a super bowl party.

 

[spankdog]

When I took down my old tank (30 gal) I filled it with water and a few cups of vinegar and let it soak for a few days. After i drained the water and rinsed it out it looked like new.

 

[bulkrate]

You could also stretch some plastic wrap or garbage bags over the top to keep the smell down.

Yeah, $100-200 worth of vinegar to clean the tank does seem excessive now that I think about it. Does it still have a rim? If so then the tipping-on-side-to-be-cleaned approach would probably work well.

 

[giulianom]

BulkRate;919407 wrote: You could also stretch some plastic wrap or garbage bags over the top to keep the smell down.

Yeah, $100-200 worth of vinegar to clean the tank does seem excessive now that I think about it. Does it still have a rim? If so then the tipping-on-side-to-be-cleaned approach would probably work well.

Yeah, even if you bought 13 gallons of distilled vinegar (5% acid), and you dilute it even further to be 10% of the water volume (13 Gallons to 135 Gallons) you're dealing with an acidity in the range of 1/2 of one percent.

Figure about $2.80 for a gallon of white distilled vinegar, and that's about $36.


At that level of acidity, it's a waiting game - instead of 24 hours, it would probably be closer to 10 days.

I'd say to add 13 gallons of vinegar, fill it to the top with water, add a powerhead and seal the top with heavy duty trash bags and packing tape.

And then let it run for a week or two, checking the water level to make sure evaporation isn't reducing the water volume.

 

[mufret]

The other alternative is muratic acid. You can get it at any pool supply store. Home Depot carries it as well but they usually take it off the shelf this time of the year. 1 gallon should make short work of any calcification. It does, however, require significantly more care to use! Always add the acid to the water - never add the acid first.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[larrysc3]

Yes. The tank does have a very small rim. I would never dream of filling the whole tank with straight vinegar however. I think what I had in mind was around 10 gallons of vinegar diluted in water. Laying the tank on its side sounds like a viable solution. I am going to get some help though. The tank weighs close to 360lbs dry. I cant exactly flip it around like my other tanks.

 

[giulianom]

larrysc3;919420 wrote: Yes. The tank does have a very small rim. I would never dream of filling the whole tank with straight vinegar however. I think what I had in mind was around 10 gallons of vinegar diluted in water. Laying the tank on its side sounds like a viable solution. I am going to get some help though. The tank weighs close to 360lbs dry. I cant exactly flip it around like my other tanks.

Even 5 gallons of vinegar would be very weak, diluted to 135 gallons.

I don't think I would tip the tank on it's side, with that size of a tank and that much weight.

Leave it upright.


Muriatic Acid would work better, diluted to maybe a 1% concentration (1:100 ratio).

But you have to be very very careful with that stuff... I wouldn't do it inside the house.


I searched Google for "clean aquarium muriatic acid", and came up with a similar thread elsewhere:

 

[rdnelson]

Didn't read all the posts here but....

In my 125 I scraped all I could and then filled with tap water and a gallon of vinegar. Let it set for two days, drained and rinsed well. There was still a film but once full of water you can't see it.


ARC....so nerdy our President breaks bones while bowling.

 

[joseayes]

Did he said he said he wanted to do it inside the house/garage or leave the tank filled outside? My concern is the freezing temp outside (filling a glass tank not a good idea now I guess) or the toxic fumes inside, (well, if he were using the muriatic acid)

 

[larrysc3]

I will not be doing this work indoors under ANY method. I have a lot of work to do before I even get to the stage where I bring the tank indoors. I have a fully populated 55 gallon African Peacock tank in the location this tank will go. So, I have a few things to take care of beforehand.

 

[snowmansnow]

vinegar with hose water will work fine...

in a tank that size a little tap water isn't going to hurt anything as long as you drain it and clean it before filling the display water.

keep it simple

 

[larrysc3]

Has anyone here tried "Bar Keepers Friend"? It is oxalic acid but comes in a shaker can like a cleanser. I have read a little bit about people trying this method...any reservations?