Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Howdy,

The other day I purchased a used IBC for $50. It was clearly used but the guy selling it said it was used to collect rain water. When I cut the top off i noticed a small amount of yellowish liquid that smelled like bleach. It looks EXACTLY like the vial of liquid chlorine i found on Wikipedia. I called the guy back and he then told me actually held a chemical used to clean the equipment at a factory that makes animal protein but had no idea what the chemical was. I rinsed the container out and it no longer smells of bleach but I'm still nervous. Any thoughts?

He basically admitted he lied. It would be hard to trust anything he said after that. But if it smelled like bleach, chances are that is what it was. I would fill it with water and let it sit a day or so then rinse it out. You are probably ok.

Yup agree with Dejavoodoo...

Once youve rinsed it out, leave for a couple of days to dry and air out in the sun, then see if its left any residue. If there is some, give it a scrub.

If there isnt but your still not sure... and youve got the time.... fill with a bit of water and leave in the sun to see if algae will grow in it - if it does then it should be fine to use... if your STILL worried... might be an idea to try a canary goldfish

Main thing I would look for when cleaning it is whether its foaming... if you can wash it out to the point that there arent any suds it will help.

Cheers.

Lets hope it's bleach!

What a douche

At least you only paid $50 for it.

Remember... dilution is the solution to pollution

the tank is now squeaky clean after a rub down with dish soap. not even a hit of the bleachy smell.

Awesome... go for it

Here is a bit of followup on the mystery goo. After cleaning the tank i filled it up and let it run for a few days to get any chlorine out. I put in 16 goldfish and after 4 days all but 2 were dead! I went to back to the pet shop to get some dog food and mentioned all the fatalities to the the fish guy. He said it was probably due to his batch of fish. Of the 500 he received from his supplier, 200 had died in his tank. He gave me 16 more and no losses so far. Good thing my wife cut off my aquaponics fund, i was about to buy a new tank thinking the goo was causing the deaths.

Poor fish supplies can be a headache, so hard to know sometimes whether it's the stock or your water quality. Good to see that he's an honest trader, well worth going back to him again and again to support that sort of business. There are plenty out there that would have said nothing about the other fish and just said it must be your fault.