How do you clean your tank?

[Kbell31]

I have had my Meruake for about a month now and am going to do a complete tank cleaning. It would be helpful to me and probably some others on here to have some methods on how others go about doing this...
1. How often do you clean the entire tank?
2. Where do you house your BTS when you clean the tank?
3. Where do you put all the rocks, hides, bowls, etc. while disinfecting the inside of the tank?
4. What chemical do you use to disinfect? (soap first? then bleach/water, quats?)
5. What material do you use to apply the disinfectant to the tank? (do you wet with a sponge, spray it on, paper towel etc)
6. Do you bake/boil the tank accessories? On what/in what?
7. Rinsing has me stumped...how do you rinse something thoroughly to remove residue when that would include lots of water....and your tank is say, in a carpeted living area? I just dont see how this important step will be practical or not a huge mess.

HUGE THANKS BEFOREHAND to everyone who helps out with these questions!

[Linnea]

i spot clean with super speed with a dog poop bag, so i dont need to change substrate as often, once every four months since im so sensitive to the dust.
the sides of the tank i keep clean by just polishing the glass with warmer water and a handkerchief.

while cleaning i have all the stuff on a newspaper on the floor.

my BTS spends his time in the big box he came with - its got a lid and he seems to enjoy running around inside it. he often opens the lid and peeks out >3< so cute

i use a sponge or towel for most of the work. cheap ones.

smell free, non toxic soap for a starter, i always use very hot water while cleaning the tank too. i try to avoid strong smelling disinfectants, but as the brand is not available in USA i cant give you the name of it, sorry xD

i baked a brick this summer, first i rinsed in soap and hot water, then put it in the oven for a while~~ its not like it will catch fire or anything lol. but dont touch it with your hands after that.

[Spindown]

i spot clean as needed
*The bts usually goes in a rubbermaid or with my boyfriend or other person.
I do all dishwashable dishes every week
I take out substrate every 3 months and clean with soap/water, then i spray the enclosure with F-10.
I Use paper towels.
I replace box hides or flour hides when needed.
When i clean the tank, i usually just set them on a shelf or the floor
Quaternary Ammonia of any type is also a good cleaner, which can kill the reptile nasties.

anyone have any good tips for getting aquarium glass clean that is safe for the reptiles? I"ve been afraid to use windex.

[Susann]

1. How often do you clean the entire tank?
I clean the whole tank every 3-4 months. It's really hard to say exactly, because it depends on a lot of things; for example, Jazz' poop has been very soft--even runny lately, so even if I spot-clean and remove all the substrate under and around each poop, it still got smelly a lot faster, so his tank I had to clean an extra couple of times lately.
How big/small your tank is also makes a difference in how often it needs an overhaul-cleaning.

2. Where do you house your BTS when you clean the tank?
I put them in a large Rubbermaid-type tote that I fill with different things for him to explore; like a small box, a paper lunch bag, a towel, a ball, or anything else I think he might enjoy checking out. I do that every now and then just to give them something to do where I'm not constantly having to block them from crawling under the couch.

3. Where do you put all the rocks, hides, bowls, etc. while disinfecting the inside of the tank?
If they are pooped on I wash them with hot water; I don't put anything in the tank that can't be either washed, baked, or thrown away, everything else I just stick somewhere temporarily while I clean the tank.

4. What chemical do you use to disinfect? (soap first? then bleach/water, quats?)
After taking out everything, I either use a bleach-solution or Clorox Wipes, Scotch-Brite botanical disinfecting wipes, or vinegar. All are disinfectants. In the beginning I just stuck with vinegar because that felt the safest to me, in that it's not toxic even if I didn't get it all rinsed off. Vinegar evaporates pretty quickly, but I still rinse for my peace of mind. It only smells until it has dried/evaporated. Especially on glass; I think it works just about as well as Windex.

5. What material do you use to apply the disinfectant to the tank? (do you wet with a sponge, spray it on, paper towel etc)
Either spray it straight on, or spray it on paper towels that I wipe with. I go through paper towels like there's no tomorrow; not just for this, but pretty much everything in my kitchen. But I've also been dealing with a sick skink for a year and a half, so that's part of my reason for using "throw-away" paper towels for everything. But you can pretty much use whatever works the best for you.

6. Do you bake/boil the tank accessories? On what/in what?
Only the first time before putting them in the tank. Rinsing their own poop off with hot water is pleny good in my opinion. If I've decided to put an accessory in another tank, then I might consider baking it--but truthfully, I personally wouldn't even then unless the skink who had the accessory first was sick. Hot water and a brush is good enough in my opinion.
If it's a new accessory, then depending on what it's made of, I either bake it or boil it. To bake, just stick it in the oven! If it needs something underneath, use a cookie sheet or cake pan or whatever you have that is oven-safe. I usually bake wooden things; the only thing I've boiled are the rocks I took from my garden (and towels for my sick skink). Pretty much just use your common sense as to which is better, baking or boiling--most things can be done either way. Personally I leave things in the oven for about 20 min, and boil in a full boil for about 10 minutes.

7. Rinsing has me stumped...how do you rinse something thoroughly to remove residue when that would include lots of water....and your tank is say, in a carpeted living area? I just dont see how this important step will be practical or not a huge mess.
This is why I use any cleaning solution very sparingly. I usually empty the tank, wipe all excess dust and stains off with a wet (water) paper towel. Then wipe down walls and bottom (rub off any stains) with either a ready-made disinfecting wipe or bleach-solution, or vinegar. To rinse, I either spray down the whole tank with water (spray as in with a spray bottle) and wipe up with paper towels, or have a bucket of warm, clean water that I dip and rinse with. For this I often use Clorox Handi Wipes

handi wipes.jpg

that I rinse and wipe with, I feel like this rinses off better than paper towels.

But these are ALL just MY opinions and practices. I know I go way further, and am way more paranoid, than most. I have watched two skinks die, and that is why I go the extra mile to make sure that I don't have to spend time wondering if I could have done more, been more careful, should, heaven forbid and knock on wood, anyone else get sick or pass away.

I am very impressed with your commitment to do good by your animal, and--as I usually have to do--I apologize for my LOOOONG posts!

[Katrina]

I generally clean completely every 2-4 months, depending on lots of things. Less in the winter as they are eating less and less active, more in the spring / summer as they are making more mess. I spot clean in between, clean water dishes in between and often clean the glass a bunch of times in between.

I generally use soap and water or else a 5% bleach solution. I don't worry too much about sterilizing as I do about cleaning. I will take the skink out and either let them wander the main floor if Duncan is around to watch or else tuck them in a cardboard box with a towel and let them burrow. All hides, rocks, water dishes etc go in the sink with hot, soapy water and get washed and rinsed. I remove substrate and then wipe it all down with hot soapy water or bleach solution - I don't use too much soap or bleach so it isn't too much of a pain to rinse it out. Rinse well with plain water and a rag, once dry replace substrate and redecorate and replace skink. Then repeat. And repeat.... etc.

I sometimes throw particularly gross stuff in the dish washer and use the sanitize setting, but most often it is just soap and water.

As long as they aren't sick, being dewormed and / or I'm not switching decorations and stuff around between the blueys, I don't worry so much about completely sterilizing things. I just make sure it is clean but don't go crazy about trying to make sure any bacteria dies.

[Kbell31]

This has been very helpful for me, I appreciate the answers guys!