Best way to clean ENORMOUS tank??

[pogonavitticeps]

Hi again. I've been posting a lot lately because I have a new sub adult dunner on the way! Anyways, as you may have guessed from the title, I need to thoroughly sanitize a big tank. It's about 72 gallons according to the calculator on here, and its very heavy. Is there a way I can completely sanitize it without bleach? The best way to handle this is to clean it with a hose in my backyard, and I dont think its a great idea to dump 72 gallons of bleach-y water in our yard. So yeah, is there an effective way I can clean it out without wrecking our lawn? Thanks!

 

[Gail]

A hand held steam cleaner would work great but if you don't have one, straight white vinegar is pretty affective. Is there any disease you need to clean up after?

 

[AHBD]

I always use red wine vinegar mixed with dish detergent. You can mix some in a bucket and scrub down the tank with a brush and/or towel, then just rinse thoroughly and dry in the sun.

 

[Taterbug]

I don't think vinegar is effective against parasites, if it was used for other dragons?

A steamer would be the most Eco-friendly option. I currently use F10 (no clue what it would do to the yard), but in the past I've made a solution of bleach and sprayed it on, then rinsed super well and let dry, then an ammonia solution and done the same. Dumped the rinse water in the driveway. It's still not great, but less overall chemicals than if you fill the whole tank up.

 

[pogonavitticeps]

Wow! Thank you for the quick replies! The previous occupant was pretty ill (he was a rescue ) so I want to clean it out fairly well. We dont have a steam cleaner, so I guess we will have to use bleach. Maybe fill it part way and then scrub with a towel? Draining and rinsing would still be difficult...

 

[AHBD]

Red wine vinegar is actually stronger than bleach, and with soap added it will kill most everything.

 

[pogonavitticeps]

Thanks! I will definitively do that. Glad I dont have to do all this inside now

 

[kingofnobbys]

Spot clean regularly and follow up with F10-SC 1:115 strength from a spray bottle (20mins kills all germs and viruses) but perfectly safe used in presence of reptiles and people.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Spot clean regularly and follow up with F10-SC 1:115 strength from a spray bottle (20mins kills all germs and viruses) but perfectly safe used in presence of reptiles and people.