Cleaning the tank.

[iNubs]

It's time for my beardie to have his tank cleaned and I was wondering what would be the easier method? I saw some people use clorox wipes and some use vinegar and water. I also saw that a lot of people use bleach and water. I know the ratio is 1:10 but does that mean for every gallon I add 1 cup of bleach?

 

[ajo]

Thorough tank cleaning requires some time on my part too. Luckily I have backups of almost everything in the viv, so when its cleaning time, I just take out the old, give the viv a good wipe with hot water and diluted vinegar (1 part vinegar to 15 parts water), then wipe down the viv multiple times with fresh hot water, put in my replacement set up and clean the rest. As far as cleaning, I have slate tile and driftwood. I soak both in a 1 to 15 mix of hot water and vinegar, scrub everything well, let it soak for 20 minutes, then place it in a cold oven and set the temperature to 250 degrees, start the oven and set a timer for 2 hours.

This gives plenty of time for the slate and driftwood to heat all the way through, killing any unwanted bacteria.

1:10 means 1 part bleach to 10 parts water. A gallon is 16 cups, so 1 cup bleach to a gallon would be 1:16. I usually guesstimate the amount I put in, but I have done this for a while. If cups and gallons are your only way of measuring I would put in a gallon of water and a cup and a half of bleach. Hope this helps