how to wash buckets to make safe for fish?

[kdlog]

We are remodeling, and will have to move our 55 gallon tank! I went and got 10- 5 gallon buckets to help with moving the water, and fish. Problem is, these buckets have an odor to them, and I know I need to clean them out first. How do I go about doing this (what cleaning supplies/soap?) so I don't harm the fish with chemicals? Oh yeah, and I need to know something within about 4-5 hours, cause that's when the workers want to get this part started. I hope someone can help me with this before then!??

[Lady Hobbs]

You buy some new ones. Plastic is pourous and soap products would be difficult to remove completely. Get a couple for your fish at the Dollar Store and label them Just Fish and keep them away from other family members.

Ahhhh......now that I actually read your whole post!!......if these are new buckets you purchased, they probably smell of plastic is all. Clean them out with some bleach or vinegar.

[kdlog]

I have white distilled vinegar, will that be ok? You're probably right about that just being a "plastic" smell

[Lady Hobbs]

Yup. A bit of vinegar and water. I assume these buckets had covers on them? Just letting them air out will remove the smell but if they are new, that smell is harmless to fish.

[rich311k]

I buy new buckets. Home Depot has them on sale all the time. I pick up a few when they have them for a cheap price.

[tanks4thememories]

Ideally you should only use "Food Grade" materials for your fish. That having been said you can use a thorough bleach scrub about 10% sol should do it. Then dechlorinate then scrub with vinegar/water @ 5-10% sol. After that process if there is still a smell then I wouldn't try anything further and I would just use a different source for my buckets.

[korith]

When I moved, I had to get a dozen or so buckets. Some were from firehouse subs, 5g pickle buckets, I just added vinegar and water and let it soak for a few days, then rinsed them out and let them air out on the deck.

[kdlog]

Thanks everyone for your advice! We actually didn't end up moving it today, we will be doing it tomorrow. I will get these buckets "good-to-go"lolthumbs2:

[PostalPenguin]

I use buckets from lowes and home depot and just rinsed them out a few times. Those kind of buckets are HDPE(#2) which is a) food grade and b) dense enough to resist absorption of chemicals, stains, etc. Never had a problem.

If you want to get out stains or smells, I recommend oxyclean. Just fill the bucket up, dump in a scoop of oxyclean free(Free is free of dyes and perfumes) and it will scrub everything out overnight.