|
|
Post by rustiscool on Nov 17, 2021 16:38:58 GMT -8
So I will be fostering three female gerbils, and happened to find an extremely cheap 55 gallon tall tank that I decided to get for them.
Only problem is that it was absolutely filthy... there were clearly fish in it at some point, but the sides also had some sort of reptile shed stuck on them as well.
I have filled and scrubbed it with vinegar and rinsed it out with water two times now. But I'm very paranoid it is still not sanitized enough due to how filthy it was. So I need some validation! Do you think it's sanitized enough now, or should I use something stronger?
Also for the record it looks completely clean now. I'm just worried about any potential lurking bacteria on it. Thanks in advance!
|
|
|
|
Post by LilyandDaisy on Nov 17, 2021 17:01:30 GMT -8
Vinegar isn't a reliable disinfectant. It's more for cutting through mineral staining and grease. You'll need to use a bleach solution, and make sure each surface remains wet for at least 10 minutes to allow the bleach time to work.
|
|
|
|
Post by rustiscool on Nov 17, 2021 18:23:02 GMT -8
Vinegar isn't a reliable disinfectant. It's more for cutting through mineral staining and grease. You'll need to use a bleach solution, and make sure each surface remains wet for at least 10 minutes to allow the bleach time to work. I'm worried about some bleach possibly remaining and hurting the gerbils, do you have any tips to make sure this doesn't happen? |
|
|
|
Post by LilyandDaisy on Nov 17, 2021 19:24:21 GMT -8
If you rinse the tank very thoroughly afterwards and wait until no bleach smell remains before putting the gerbils in, it should be fine.
The main concern with a tank previously used for reptiles would be salmonella, which can live on surfaces for a while, but fortunately is also not that hard to kill. A non-toxic surface disinfectant such as those sold for food preparation areas would probably kill salmonella. But there are a few types of viruses that are much tougher and need something stronger (i.e bleach, although some people also use hydrogen peroxide). As far as I know, the only disinfectant that manages to be strong enough to kill the tougher viruses while also being very low-toxicity and non-corrosive is Virkon, which is what a lot of vets and other animal settings use. It depends how cautious you want to be.
|
|
|
|
Post by rustiscool on Nov 17, 2021 20:12:17 GMT -8
If you rinse the tank very thoroughly afterwards and wait until no bleach smell remains before putting the gerbils in, it should be fine. The main concern with a tank previously used for reptiles would be salmonella, which can live on surfaces for a while, but fortunately is also not that hard to kill. A non-toxic surface disinfectant such as those sold for food preparation areas would probably kill salmonella. But there are a few types of viruses that are much tougher and need something stronger (i.e bleach, although some people also use hydrogen peroxide). As far as I know, the only disinfectant that manages to be strong enough to kill the tougher viruses while also being very low-toxicity and non-corrosive is Virkon, which is what a lot of vets and other animal settings use. It depends how cautious you want to be. Thanks for all your help!  One more question for you since you seem knowledgeable, is there a certain bleach to water ratio you recommend? I've found many differing answers |
|
|
|
Post by LilyandDaisy on Nov 18, 2021 7:49:23 GMT -8
If you rinse the tank very thoroughly afterwards and wait until no bleach smell remains before putting the gerbils in, it should be fine. The main concern with a tank previously used for reptiles would be salmonella, which can live on surfaces for a while, but fortunately is also not that hard to kill. A non-toxic surface disinfectant such as those sold for food preparation areas would probably kill salmonella. But there are a few types of viruses that are much tougher and need something stronger (i.e bleach, although some people also use hydrogen peroxide). As far as I know, the only disinfectant that manages to be strong enough to kill the tougher viruses while also being very low-toxicity and non-corrosive is Virkon, which is what a lot of vets and other animal settings use. It depends how cautious you want to be. Thanks for all your help! One more question for you since you seem knowledgeable, is there a certain bleach to water ratio you recommend? I've found many differing answers I'm not really sure as I don't use bleach that often. Anything from 1:100 to 1:10 seems to be suggested online so something in between those should be fine, I would think? |
|
One more question for you since you seem knowledgeable, is there a certain bleach to water ratio you recommend? I've found many differing answers