cleaning salt water set up for africans

is it all crusted with salt? for the tank - I would just use warm.. really warm water and a sponge. If its really bad I would try to use vinegar (although I am not positive that vinegar dissolves salt) for the filter - depending on what type I would just soak it in really hot water, rinse, and repeat until you feel satisfied. Cichlids can usually take a good amount of salinity - but don't take my word for it, read up on the fish you are going to add. If you can go out and buy one of those devices that measures salinity in water.

Vinegar is fine to use. For small detail work a slice of lemon might just do the trick too.

Thanks guys Im going to try a mixture of warm to hot water and vinegar and see how it goes