How to Clean an Acrylic Tank

Cleaning out an acrylic fish tank can be difficult because you need to get any mineral stains, algae and sand residue out of the tank without scratching the acrylic or using conventional cleaning supplies that might harm your fish. However, with proper care you can actually use household bleach to clean an acrylic aquarium without harming your fish.

Things You'll Need

  • Hair dryer
  • Vacuum with stairs attachment
  • Old credit card
  • Water
  • Bleach
  • Clean cotton cloth
  • Dechlorinator
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Instructions

    • 1

      Loosen up crusted sand residue. Dry the inside of the acrylic aquarium with the hair dryer. This will cause any sand residue to crumble apart as the moisture holding it together is removed. Anything that remains on the walls or in the corners can be scraped out using an old credit card, which will not scratch the walls of the aquarium.

    • 2

      Vacuum out the sand. You should now be able to easily suck up all the sand using your vacuum and the attachment that is designed to get into corners and vacuum stairs.

    • 3

      Fill the aquarium with water and bleach. Use about 1 cup of bleach to a full tank of water. You will need to let this sit in the aquarium for 48 hours to thoroughly kill and remove any algae stains or mold. It is unlikely that you will even need to wipe down the walls to get the algae off after exposing it to the bleach for 48 hours, but if there are any stubborn streaks, simply wipe them off with a clean cotton cloth.

    • 4

      Fill the aquarium with water and twice the prescribed amount of dechlorinator (found on the bottle of dechlorinator and brand-specific). This will neutralize any remaining bleach. Let the mixture sit in the acrylic aquarium for 48 hours.

    • 5

      Fill the aquarium with whatever type of water that is right for its future inhabitants. You are now ready to add creatures to the clean and bright acrylic aquarium.