New tank with glue residue inside from shipping

[antiver]

I just received a JBJ 12g glass NanoCube, and the inside was packed with newspaper, lightbulbs, and the lighting power supply. The power supply was boxed up and taped to the bottom of the tank with packing tape. In a haste to set it up before I left for class, I pulled everything out of it, hooked it up per the instructions, filled it with water, turned it all on, and walked out the door.

Now that I'm back home, the water is cleaner after being filtered, but I'm worried about all the particulates of packing material that is now in the filter- and more worryingly, the residue from the tape glue on the inside of the tank.

Have I contaminated the filter or tank by not first cleaning the inside really well? I'm especially not sure what to do about getting the tape off the bottom. Shut it off, drain the tank, and scrape it off (razor?)? Any liquid solvents/soap/etc I could use to help take it off or clean the glass? What about the stuff already in the filter?

[Rocky06fx4]

Well I don't know much about what chemicals kill fish and what don't. If I did that I would clean out the filter of all the debris, possibly buy a new filter cartridge? Then I would take all the water out and scrape the bottom with my aquarium scraper and warm water.

[Incredulous_Ed]

You should try to scrape off the residue somehow......I don't think it would harm the fish, has when i was a kid I used tape in the aquarium and it was fine......but you can never be to careful.

[McgJosh]

Dont worry about it. For the tape residue, I would scrape it off with a razor while the tank is still full. It won't hurt anything.

[gm72]

A new aquarium should always be rinsed thoroughly to ensure it is free from harmful chemicals.

[crackatinny]

Get the white vinager out and give it a good clean, then rinse thourally.

[antiver]

I'm siphoning it out now (actually with a cat5 cable! :18:). There was waay too much junk settled on the bottom of the tank, about 1% of which came from the tap water.

White vinegar sounds perfect, but all I have is balsamic :P I'll be running to the store soon! Thanks guys!

[gm72]

How in the world are you siphoning with a cable? That would be a sight!

If you have debris coming from your tap water I'd be concerned. There shouldn't be any visible solids coming from your tap.

Crack has a great way to clean the tank. Vinegar is water soluble and rinses away easily. Just be sure to do that though, rinse very very thoroughly.

I'm hoping you are going to do a fishless cycle?

[antiver]

How to siphon with a CAT-5e cable:
1) Cut the wire a little longer than you need it to reach- don't leave the Ethernet plugs on the ends!

2) Split the cable casing open about an inch or two, enough to dig the wires out a little.

3) Grab ONE PAIR of wires (i.e. a brown & white twisted pair) with some pliers- get a good grip!

4) Slowly tug the wires out, about an inch at a time. Each time you pull, a scrunch will form somewhere in the cable; that's your cue to stop pulling.

5) Pull the casing away from the pliers to relax the scrunch (and to remove your twisted pair a little more).

6) Repeat steps 4 and 5 until your twisted pair is completely removed from the cable.

7) The rest of the wires should come out without much effort, but watch for scrunches just in case. A bad scrunch will ruin the siphon effect because the cable/tube will be damaged and may even leak!

And bingo! You have a siphon ready CAT-5e cable! Looks cool to have it hanging out of your tank lol.

---

Debris from tap- its not solids, just minerals and whatever else comes with tap water- you can see it if you look close (at least in Austin)!

Vinegar worked really well, although you can still see where the tape was pretty clearly.

And yes, I'm starting my fishless cycle today/tomorrow. Right now its just running with water and nothing else in it. I should be getting gravel and some plants in the next day or so, and start the ammonia buffet.

Thanks for the help!

[Rocky06fx4]

At my last apartment the water came out white and looked like milk. Boy did I have fun jokeing around with that. After the water sat it all would fall to the bottom and seperate, looked like salt or some kid of mineral.

[zackish]

Like everyone else said, I don't think it is an amount to be worried about.

[Jakaris]

Nothing to be worried about... i accidentally poked a hole in my HOB filters intake tube, and all i did was wrap vast quantities of tape around it (its inside the HOB), nothing else, its still there after 3 months and the fish are, if anything, better than ever.