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View Full Version : Tank crashed, now all hardware smells like rotten eggs - use vinegar?


agoutihead
06/28/2009, 10:35 AM
Ok I had a tank crash a couple of weeks ago, and honestly just let everything sit because I was so disgusted (other than the coral that survived and a couple of fish)

Now the powerheads, skimmers, filters heaters etc have been just sitting in this water and when I take the pieces out of the tank, it REAKS like rotten eggs.

So what can I do to get rid of the smell on my hardware?

Would a vinegar bath get rid of it all?

Or would I have to do a bleach bath (which i prefer not to do)

If so, just regular white vinegar right? How much for say 5 gallons of water?

How long would it need to soak and should I keep a powerhead in this bucket?

Gregsgsr
06/28/2009, 10:41 AM
clean pumps and powerhead with vinger water mix.

returnofsid
06/28/2009, 10:42 AM
I'd recommend a bleach bath at 2-4 TBS/gallon of water. Vinegar will get rid of the calcium deposits and such, but probably not the stink, or any bacteria or other nasties that have accumulated. Bleach will sterilize everything, which you want.

After that, if you have calcium build up, you can use the vinegar. Yes, just white vinegar. I'd fill the tank up with water, and dump in a gallon of vinegar. Let it sit overnight with powerheads running (to clean powerheads). Keep all equipment in tank, so it'll all get cleaned. This will soften up a calcium deposits and coralline algae, allowing you to easily scrape it all off. Afterwards you want to rinse everything very well, to eliminate the bleach and vinegar.

agoutihead
06/28/2009, 10:50 AM
So youre saying add the bleach AND the vinegar?

Its a 26 gallon bow, so still add a gallon of vinegar and then what, roughly a cup of bleach then?

Let it all sit over night?

What about the rock?

The rock is still in there and probably smells just as bad... what should I do about it?

Rinse it in the bath tub to start to get all of the nasty slime off?

I should say I have a bunch of brand new salt water mixed up and my plan was to just throw all of the rock into this bin for now.

Unless I need to bleach/vinegar bath my rock... which I would prefer not to do, but will if I must.

Znut Reefer
06/28/2009, 12:09 PM
I would put the rock in the bin after you rinse it well. Don't add bleach or vinegar to it. Be careful on mixing bleach with vinegar or any other chemical.

agoutihead
06/28/2009, 12:28 PM
So should I rinse the dirty smelly rock in the bathtub?

My ro/di doesnt have enough force to push the slime and stuff off...

Then just put it in the new saltwater bin?

so should I not mix bleach & vinegar together, or are those two ok to mix?

Znut Reefer
06/28/2009, 12:44 PM
If you don't want to kill the rock rinse it well with some salt water and then put it in the bin or bucket with a powerhead. As far as the tank goes. I would add some vinegar only to clean up everything. Or just let it run, and do waterchanges on it. Or break it down after you add vinegar and clean it all up.

I have never mixed bleach and vinegar together, but have heard to be careful mixing anything with bleach.

agoutihead
06/28/2009, 01:19 PM
I dont have any good saltwater to rinse it with other than the new little bit I have in the holding bin.

A lot of it is ruined already, I'm just going to give it a quick rinse under the bathtub to get all the real nasty stuff off.

I'm just going to have to re-cycle & seed the tank.

So I have the bleach & the vinegar.

Should I not use the bleach any more then?

I def want to get rid of the smell...

Does anyone else know if white vinegar & bleach re-act?

I really dont want to have to soak the tank, drain it and soak it again... thats so much work & I'm getting rid of the tank anyways, but keeping the equipment. Either way I dont want anything to smell.

agoutihead
06/28/2009, 03:09 PM
Ok so the tank has new water in it, I dumped about a liter of vinegar in already.

How much bleach should I put in?

about a cup? 2 cups?

its 26 gallons...

I've already rinsed the rock under the tub and have it sitting in a new bin of fresh salt water.

mluz
06/28/2009, 03:26 PM
I think you misunderstood the original response by returnofsid.

You want to use just bleach with plain water to sterilize and remove any odors on the equipment and tank, without any live rock and sand.

After that rinse out the tank and equipment, fill it up and add a a gallon of vinegar with plain water to clean out any calcium deposits if needed. Again rinse and refill.

I would leave the bleach solution for a day and the vinegar for another day, But do not combine both.

After that i think its safe to say you can make some new salt water and add your rock and sand and let it cycle.

agoutihead
06/28/2009, 04:25 PM
I ended up combining them both... I guess I jumped the gun... everything seems to be fine though?

I will just leave it for a day or two and then give it a good once over.

otrlynn
06/28/2009, 07:08 PM
I'm not a chemist, but a simple search of the question, "mix bleach with vinegar?" yields that answer it is dangerous to mix full strength bleach and full strength vinegar together because of the poisonous gas it creates, but if you are added both to water to make a dilute solution, you are probably okay. Here's some info to get you started, but I would do some more research. Meanwhile, open the window in the room where where you have the tank sitting...

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-02/asfm-vik021306.php