Marine-Aquatic?

[benjamin]

I have a nice aquarium that used to be salt water, but now I'm interested in having it avaliable for future newts. We decided to change because if wanted a marine tank we'ld want a bigger one so that we could have on display so out it goes into my newt shed. I've been thinking of getting some maromatus so I was wondering how I thouroughly I should treat the tank and if there might be any harmful marine but fresh water tolerant organisms that could remain in the aquarium, rocks, and filter. Right now the tank is dry and empty, what should I do from here?

 

[pamela]

Hello Benjamin!

I am a bleach fanatic. I have always washed my tanks out with bleach water. I let the solution sit in the tank for around ten minutes. I then rinse, rinse, rinse. Then I fill with water again and add a dechlorinater (lots of it). The tank then sits with this water again. Then rinse, rinse, rinse. I also like to set the tanks out in the sun for awhile. Sun kills a lot of bacteria, plus, it dries the tank well (most water bacteria does not survive dry surfaces). Have fun.

 

[rose]

Hi, I agree with the bleach plan. The solution doesn't have to be very strong to be really effective--about 1 part bleach to 10-15 parts water should be enough. You can also aerate the water strongly when you add the decholorinator, which will drive out any remaining chlorine even faster. You'll probably want to toss out the substrate and any non-plastic decorations. They tend to be calcium carbonate-based in saltwater tanks. Do you plan on using the same filter, or getting a new one? Assuming that you want to use the saltwater filter, I would treat it with the bleach solution (obviously awkward if it's a power or canister filter) and just replace all filter media.

 

[jennifer]

I agree, use diluted bleach. If you are bleaching gravel, be sure to read this:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/catastrophes.shtml

 

[benjamin]

OK, so if there's no way of salvaging the decorum, I'll just sell it. I'll empty the tank and bleach it on it's own, perhaps I will get a new filter as well caus the old one's a canister and I wouldn't want any newts being sucked up.

 

[jennifer]

Ben, for a large tank, a canister filter is ideal, especially if it has a way to control the amount of flow. I have several canister filters and have no problem with newts being sucked up. If there are larvae in the tank, I put a sponge prefilter (or nylon stocking) over the intake. The bigger problem is controlling the amount of current in the tank. You may need to be creative in finding a way to diffuse the outflow.

 

[benjamin]

Well it's a pretty big intake could easily suck up a C.o. I'm thinking of burying it under the gravel. Is this a good Idea?

 

[colin]

You could always use the reverse flow method, where undergravel plates are used and the outlet for the cannister filter is in the upriser forcing water down the pipe and to rise up through the gravel?
Its a good way of preventing waste build up in gravel...