cleaning my tank

Question
I recently had a beta die, and need to know how to get my 5-gal tank ready for a new one. How do i clean the rocks and the glass?

Thanks!
Benjie

Answer
Good evening Benjie, thank you for your question.

The answer to your question really depends on whether the betta died of a disease or naturally, of old age. If you aim  to preserve the biological filtration in the gravel, the filter, the water - that's different than breaking your tank down, sanitizing everything and starting from scratch. In that case, your tank would need to cycle. The article below describes what you need to do to clean a fish tank and still preserve biological filtration:
http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/fishqa/f/faq0110.htm

...Just a couple of things:

Instead of using a razor blade to clean the glass, I would use an old credit card (I have a white plastic Rewards card from the grocery store that works really well for this) and instead of lime remover and glass cleaner to clean any water spots or deposits on the outside of the tank, I would use distilled white vinegar, maybe adding baking soda to it.

If your betta contracted a disease such as ich, it is best to break down the tank and start over. This means you should clean the filter as best you can, replace all the filter media for brand new, take out the gravel and rinse it in hot running water. The key is not to use soaps or detergents, as the residue can be very difficult to remove and will be toxic to your fish. If you feel the need to clean the gravel with bleach, a capful per gallon is all that is necessary, in my experience. When you add new water after cleaning a fish tank, it is usually best to leave the cover off to let any residual chlorine evaporate. Within 24 hours, it will be gone. It is highly recommended that you cycle the tank before adding the betta, using a bacterial starter product such as Cycle helps to shorten the time you need to wait.

You can read more here about water conditioning for bettas:
http://www.bgsite.net/bettas-101

And more here about acclimating them from cup to tank:
http://www.bettatalk.com/acclimatation.htm

I especially recommend you read over bettatalk.com - it's got lots of information for betta owners. The site is founded by the president (and founder) of the L.A. betta society...she knows what she's talking about!

Thanks for writing in, feel free to write again.
Nicole