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tank cleaning

23 14:02:55

Question
Hi
I emptied out my 20 gal tank and rinsed it out and then windexed the glass panels inside and out and then rinsed it out again with water from a hose, and then dried the whole thing. My question is, is it possible for the ammonia from the windex to seep into the glass, and if I thouroughly rinsed it out, is it ok to put my fish back in? Also, is there someway to neutralize ammonia? I didn't realize windex was so bad before doing this.
Thanks.

Answer
Danielle,                                                               First when you clean your tank you should be siphoning not breaking your whole tank down.If you go to your local petshop and get a syphon they are pretty cheap. They should be able to show you how to use it. It works on suction and gravity.Never use anything but water to clean your tank if you need something abrasive you can use table salt it rinses away and will not hurt anything. It is not the ammonia in the windex that is the other chemicals. If you have city water you should be using a tap water conditioner with an dechlorinator. You can get that in your pet shop too. Everytime you break your tank down you are breaking down the whole ecosystem. Siphoning gets rid of the debris and leaves your bacteria layer intact. Tina