Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We finally got the 90 gal today. I want to set it up but would like to know how to clean it. It was used for fish and I don't know if they had any sickness or anything. How would you go about cleaning the tank before putting the turtles in it? thanks for the help.

If your trying to remove old mineral stains from the glass, a terri-cloth rag dipped in white vinegar will do the job. Avoid really hot water, you don't want to soften the silicone sealant. Other than that, I really don't think there's anything the fish could have left behind that would be harmful to your turtles. Turtles eat fish.
Bob, Philadelphia.

I am sorry I did not mention that the fish that were in there before were salt water fish. This tank has been sitting in a basement for a couple years too. We found the warranty expired in 1995. I want to be sure the salt water residue will not hurt the turtles. I thought I heard somewhere that you have to clean the tank with bleach before you can put the turtles in there. We used a vacuum to get out most of the dust, small rocks, and paint chips that were in there. Then we took wet kitchen towels and washed out the top and inside of the tank. I am going to use the hose to fill the tank a little and then suck it back out to get whatever is left in there but wanted to know if I should add a drop of bleach or so. I cleaned the outside of the tank with windex because it was dingy. We cleaned up the oak base with oil soap and it looks great now.

Forget the bleach. If you don't get it all out it will burn their eyes, and if there's enough left behind, it will burn their throat and stomach linings. Don't worry about salt residue, it's harmless to the turtles and it will eventually dissipate out anyway.
Bob, Philadelphia.

can't you just tak it outside and hose it down. this is what i always do. I do use bleach but only if i can reliably rinse very well. DO NOT think you can get bleach out if you do not fill and actually dump the tank or hose it out, Filling a draining will require many, many repetitions before the bleach is gone.

I would take it outside and hose it off it was a 20 gal. but this thing is a 90 gal. and it took two men to bring it into the house. I don't think that I could do it myself. Thanks for the tips Checker. The two babies are in there and are loving it. I put the female adult in with them because she is docile but she started attacking one of the others so I had to take her out. Then I put in the male adult and he got along with the others great for about 5 mins. and then he bit the head of one of the others. So he is no longer in there either. I am thinking about getting rid of my female adult. I was hoping this big tank would reduce the tanks in the house but it does not look like it. I am scared to put them all in a pond in the yard (when we get one) if they are all going to fight.

Maybe im off on this one, but wouldnt chlorine remover, the same stuff that makes tap water safe for fish, take care of the bleach residue? I would think that if you used double or triple amounts of chlor-out or Aquasafe and let it soak for a while, it would clean up. Then drain it again, and fill it. I guess.
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They are in there now and happy so I am going to leave them. What I thought were paint chips were actually dried salt flakes and small chips of whatever gravel was in there. The main thing I was worried about was the paint but since it looks like it wasn't paint after all I think they are fine. I rinsed the tank with one of those hoses that hooks up to your sink and then sucked it out again. I then took my old tooth brush I use to scrub their rocks and cleaned the sides of the tank. Then I took a papertowel and got up all the small chips of gravel. I filled the tank halfway and sucked again. That took forever! Then I filled it halfway again and let the water sit all day. I let the small stones (bigger than gravel, for the bottom of the tank) sit in boiling hot water and I took the tooth brush to the bigger rocks. I added everything and then added the turtles. We are going to the fish store later today or tomorrow to get some plants, fish, and more stones. I want to try and figure out a way to make them a cave they can swim through. I also want to find a piece of wood I can make (like Iturnrocks has) so they can have a more natural basking area. We also need a better filter. The wood at the fish store are like $45! When the whole set up is finished and I get my hands on a better digital camera I will post a picture.

Ladybug,
Aren't you anywhere near water? A lake, river, the ocean? I get some great pieces of driftwood from the Delaware River here in Philadelphia. It's a lot cheaper.
When you put the river stones on the bottom, don't go real thick with them. Try to keep it to one layer, because alot of debris get hung up under the stones. Try to put in just enough stones to cover the bottom but not piled up on each other.
Bob, Philadelphia.

Bob, yes we are about 7 miles from the Delaware river but we don't have access to it (we live in NJ near Philla). We do have a huge pond near here but we don't really have access to that either, it's more like a swamp behind some trees.
I do have a question about the stones though. The oak base does not have a top to it so I am scared if I put too much rocks in there it will break. I have small stones in there and about four big rocks. I have seen some people that have cinder blocks in their tanks, is that because they have support under the glass?

the glass will hold the weight of your rocks. I think the water weight is much more than the rocks. Just dont drop big rocks on the bottom. I put a layer of gravel on the bottom and set the rocks on that. The water in the tank greatly reduces the weight of the rocks anyway.
Try holding a large rock above the water, then hold it underwater, it seems a lot lighter.
I just caught some cool rocks today that have lots of holes in them. One rock is really heavy. Theyre soaking in the bathtub now, ill post photos once I get them in the tank.
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Ladybug,
Your 90g probably has 1/2 inch plate glass all around. I really don't know how much it can support. If you filled the tank, the water alone would weigh about 630 LBS. I'm gone to venture a guess here, but I would bet that the bottom can hold upwards of 1000 LBS. If the silicone sealant can hold the glass from blowing out behind all that weight, the glass has got to be incredibly strong.

I've made this offer to other people regarding driftwood. If you're willing to take the ride, you can pick through my driftwood and take anything you like. It washes up on the dock where I work and I get all kinds of interesting pieces. It lasts so long in the tank that I've built up a reserve that's going to take a decade to use up.
Bob, Philadelphia.

Thanks for the offer Bob. I would take you up on it but don't drive (and would not take the train by myself) and my husband does not like driving to Philla. I don't like riding through Philla either so don't blame him. I get chest pains in the car and my Dr. said it's stress lol. I'm only 24!

Ladybug,
If you're just getting into aquatic turtles, you'll find that watching them just do their thing is very relaxing. When I first got mine my wife thought I was just wasting money, but now, heaven forbid one of them should get sick or worse, she loves them more than I do. She loves being able to feed them by hand. My turtle project became her little babies.
Bob, Philadelphia.
P.S. I'm actually in Bucks County. I just use the Philly moniker because it's more recognizable.

El_Quijote,

Please understand that I really, really don't want to get involved in shipping this stuff out of my home. You are not the first one to request this of me. I'm sorry but the offer is what it is.
Bob, Philadelphia.

umm if you were talking to me I never asked for you to ship anything. I was just wondering if there was a way from NJ to PA without going through Philla so we could drive up, but my husband said there is not. We will stick with what we have for now and find something better when we find it.

Ladybug,
I responded to you directly with an e-mail. El-Quijote was another person that e-mailed me. He was inquiring as to whether or not I would be interested in shipping out some driftwood. As I did not wish to respond to him via e-mail (because that divulges your e-mail address) nor did I want to ignore his query. So I opted to decline him as gracefully as I could on the forum and I hope that he understands.
Bob, Philadelphia.

Ohhh. I was confused. I did not get your email so that made it even more confusing. Humm I must have given you the wrong email address or something.

I'm sorry I couldn't reply any sooner, that would have probably prevented the confusion in this subject.
I definitely understand your situation, and I understand that you don't want to start shipping it, because it would probably get out of hand and you would be shipping too many packages very soon...
I had to try though. I'm having the toughest time finding decent driftwood and a decent price.
I just bought a house this week, and I'll be moving in at the end of this month, so I wanted to take that oportunity to improve my pond.
Thanks again and, like I said, I understand.

El__Quijote