Hi,
I have just picked up my second hand and almost mint condition tank.
The tank has been empty for some time (over a year).
I was also given several medicines which prompted me to ask if they tank had had problems with all these.
The answer was yes, fin rot, white spot and a major snail infestation.
It has come with a Fluval external filter also pretty mint.
Having checked the baskets, they have ceramic media rings in (looks like Fluval ones) also net bags of activated carbon.
Also provided was a large quantity of pea gravel ( around 3mm)/bogwood.

My questions are :
- Should I sterilize the tank?
- Should people sterilize 2nd hand stuff as a matter of course?
- Chuck away the bio-media in the pump or sterilize the biomedia (same goes for the pea gravel/bogwood)?
- Should I sterilize the baskets and the pump in general as parts of it are still wet and gooey with a nasty smell?
- What is the best way to clean/sterilize?
- Also the pump manual says to lubricate some of the seals and also the impeller but it does not say what with.

Hi

There's not too much to worry about with this tank as fin rot is almost always caused by poor water quakity or stress due to overstocking, wrong parameters, wrong fish mix etc. Whitespot can't survive any length of time with no water and no host so will have died off. As a precaution against any remaining snail eggs and any chemicals that have been used this is what I would do (IMO only) :

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I would wipe all internal surfaces with a mild (1:20) bleach solution, rinse and allow to dry thoroughly.

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I would but how far I'd go would depend on how risky I thought it was, how long since the tank had fish/water in it etc.

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Throw away any carbon (it's likely to be exhausted), and any fine white filter pads/wool. Give any bio balls or other hard media and additional sponges a thorough wash in tap water. If there is a nitrate sponge (usually green) replace it as it will be exhausted too. Clean the gravel as you would whenever setting up a new tank - i.e. wash repeatedly in a bucket until the water runs clear. I'd be tempted to also pour boiling water over it once clean. Scrub the bogwood and then cover with boiling water. That will kill any nasties. If it's dried out too much it may float so you'll need to keep it in water (changing it rgularly) until it's waterlogged again and will stay down when it goes into the tank.

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A good wash in hot water and bleach using a toothbrush to get to all the awkward bits, followed by thorough rinsing is best. A final rinse in water with dechlorinator added is a good idea to remove any traces of chlorine from the bleach.

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Vaseline unless the seals are made of rubber, in which case you need a fish-safe silicone grease.

HTH

thanks fishlady,

really helpful advise as always.
Thanks so much for spending the time to give such in-depth advise to all comers too.

You're welcome No point in telling half a tale ...

Some oils and especially vaseline can rot the rubber components so be careful. Personally, I favour the Eheim maintenance spray (the fish keeping friendly version on WD40!) Blurb from their website below. You should be able to source on line or through a good LFS.

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Thanks, this sounds good, I will get hold of some.

Am still split on the sterilization bit.
Fluval customer service have kindly responded and are sending me the maintenance DVD that comes with a new filter pump.
They also advised to use a very salt solution of water only to clean the unit. I have also had off line advise to use salt water and then vinegar followed by the common sense clean water final wash.
What are your thoughts?