Cleaning out the back of old BioCube 14g?

Ioncewaslegend · Feb 9, 2020

I snagged a BioCube 14g tank with pretty much everything I need, but the tank has been decommissioned for a couple months now. There's some sand at the bottom that I'll be either washing or discarding, I'll be washing down the interior of the tank with vinegar and rinsing with DI water, but I'm curious what needs to be done to the back (and how to do it) to make sure I don't get algal blooms/other nasties.

Thanks!

Oropher · Feb 10, 2020

Welcome to R2R bud.

You can nuke it with Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2), normally 4-5% is enough. Algae will not stand a chance against H2O2. However you could look for vermetid snails growing in the back filter chambers by mechanically scrapping them. Make sure you get smooth surface after scrapping.
Don't use the sand. better get new one. For the rock, you should use dry rocks or man made rocks.
Start slowly don't rush things. Algae bloom during cycling is normal.

Happy tank building!

Ioncewaslegend · Feb 10, 2020

Oropher said:
Welcome to R2R bud.

You can nuke it with Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2), normally 4-5% is enough. Algae will not stand a chance against H2O2. However you could look for vermetid snails growing in the back filter chambers by mechanically scrapping them. Make sure you get smooth surface after scrapping.
Don't use the sand. better get new one. For the rock, you should use dry rocks or man made rocks.
Start slowly don't rush things. Algae bloom during cycling is normal.

Happy tank building!

Thanks! One followup question: when you say "nuke it", do you mean spot/surface clean with peroxide, or make a solution and run that through the tank?