Sterilizing a glass tank

I'm in the process of rebuilding my 20 gallon glass tank. Is there anyway to sterilize the tank to make sure there isn't fungus or algae lurking somewhere in it? Should I use bleach or salt and then wash it out?

When I had to sterilize one of my tanks because it had a bacteria that was killing my sub-tropicals, I rinsed it twice with boiling salt water, then once with ordinary cold water, and then had to do the same with all of the contents of the tank. It seemed to work well, because my goldfish that live in the tank now, are doing wonderfully. (note: make sure the sealant in the corners of the tank is completely dry first, or else it'll melt!! lols)

Saltwater's probably the safest method. If you use bleach, there could be leftover residue. Boiling salt water's probably a bit overkill. Hot water and a good scrub. Put some elbow grease into it!

Beach is an acceptable disinfectant for use with amphibians. It is the sole disinfectant I use when dealing with the amphibian collection at work. Do not use soap or other disinfectants that contain detergents as the residue may be irritating to the amphibian's skin.

Before bleach or any other disinfectant can be used all organic material must be scrubbed off the sides/walls of the aquaria to enable the disinfectant to reach all of the crevices. In very dirty enclosures I will often scrub the tank, soak in a bleach solution rinse and scrub again, and rebleach to make sure that the tank is disinfected.
Once the tank is disinfected rinse well and air dry. All of the chlorine will evaporate from the tank. Placing the clean tank in the sun will speed this up. If the tank or other item is needed sooner, then after rinsing a couple of times, fill with water and then soak with a solution of commercial chlorine remover for about 15 minutes. Rinse and repeat until no odor of bleach is present.

One of the items that really concerns me with the boiling salt water recommendation is that the glass of the enclosure may shatter because of the sudden thermal change putting people at risk of a serious injury.

Ed

Ed - Thanks for the advice. Approximately how much bleach should be added to the water?

The standard dilutions on the bottle work well, just use those directions.

Ed

The boiling salt water worked because the glass of the tank was warm, as it had been left outside all morning after I emptied it. I wouldn't be silly enough to put boiling water in a cold tank. lols. I noticed I didn't explain that part previously. I just assumed most people would know about not suddenly changing the temperature of glass. My apologies.