early christmas presents are always great

[sunkissedinCA]

my best friend had me open a present early because she ended up bringing it to my house to wrap but then realized she couldn't because it was a 5 gallon marineland 5 eclipse corner tank, and she didn't have the original box lol. i'm pretty excited because it already has decorations and stuff because she had used it prior to giving it to me, for her betta. annnnnnnd...she also told me she got me another betta! but she's giving it to me on christmas. she won't tell me what it looks like or if it's a boy or girl so i'm wanting christmas to come like, RIGHT NOW lol.

what i'm wondering is, how would you guys go about cleaning it? it's not dirty by any means, but i still need to clean it. i've heard of using bleach or vinegar, but if i you guys recommend bleaching it, i'm going to be really nervous. just because knowing my luck even if i rinse it 100x, it still wont be enough

anyways, any help would be very appreciated. happy holidays everyone!

[bettamama]

Vinegar and hot water will work fine. I know bleach works too, but unless I REALLY have to, I don't use it. Just make sure to rinse, rinse, rise after using the vinegar. I also make a point after cleaning it out really good with the vinager and rinsing it, to fill it all up with water and condition it for a few hours then dump it out and go from there.

[DefyingGravity]

I would be too scared to use bleach incase I didn't get it all out. I'd probably scrub with hot water for ages and ages and ages!

How exciting and what an awesome present. I asked for a betta book, and my partner laughed at me, and then his sister offered to buy one of those tiny little tanks for me *cries* (after all my explaining about why her two fish died so quickly and didn't do anything other than sit there) so you are soo lucky!

[ChristinaRoss]

what a great gift! nice friend you have there.
i would never use bleach OR vinegar.......i would simply use water and scrub it well

[dramaqueen]

I have used vinegar and hot water and had no problem. Just remember to rinse the daylights out of it.

[Calmwaters]

I am like Christina I would be afraid to use anything other than hot water and lots of elbow grease I would be to nervous I would not get it all out.

[Jupiter]

I fill the tank with hot water, pour a little vinegar in it, slosh it around a bit, then empty it out and scrub. Works like a charm. Just make sure to rinse the tank again to get rid of any vinegar left over.

That's so exciting! Can't wait to see your new betta.

[k stiles]

Distiled water works great, I use it for all of my bettas, the water stays so clean, having to clean it is a joke

[HopeInHeart]

I've used vinegar and water alot, I even use it to clean the sink before I do water changes, and I've never had problems with it.

[dr2b]

I've used both Bleach and vinegar (at different times) for my tank. I used bleach just because I got it off craig's list and I didn't know anything about it previously. It is fine though. I rinsed it out a ton, let it sit in the sun for hours, rinsed some more, and repeated this process 3 or 4 times and then rinsed it with hot hot water a few more times after that before use. I also test my water to make sure it tests okay after the water sits in it before putting the fish in.