Cleaning an aquarium of dried on algae

Sushigeek

AC Members
Nov 20, 2011
17
0
0
Recently I decided to tear down my frankly ugly first attempt at a nano tank (no animals), and I have almost finished except for removing the old, dried on algae. My question is about how best to remove the old dried on algae, and if I can use bleach without risking the health of my future inhabitants (fish this time!)
 
If the tank is empty, you can use a bleach solution on the algae without any issues, as long as you rinse it out really good. I would also fill it up and put some dechlorinator (There is a long explaination on why this should be just fine, involving sodium hypochlorite and how it relates to bleach and chlorine, but trying to keep it short) in it and let it sit for a while. Then empty and rinse again, then good to use. Remember to dilute your bleach solution for cleaning with water as recommended for cleaning and/or sanitizing. The algae should come right off after letting the tank sit with the bleach solution in it for a while. Then you can take a white rag and wipe the glass down. There are some algae's that won't just come right off and you might have to put a lot of "Elbow grease" into it(don't damage the tank scrubbing to hard). Good luck.
 
AquariaCentral.com