[brandon O]

has anyone used vinegar to cleab algae of decorations and rocks ?
like takeing them out and soaking them in a vinegar water solution them scrubbing them off?

i have used it and it works but mainly i was wondering if it is safe?

 

[punman]

I use it more to get hard deposits off of glass tops.
For algae on stuff I put the items in a bucket with a couple of caps of bleach for 24 hours.
Then rinse well, maybe soak with an anti-chlorine agent.
Never have hurt any fish with this method.

 

[DJRansome]

I use hydrogen peroxide. It lasts long enough to kill the algae and turns into harmless chemicals on it's own.

 

[susanne2clinton]

You should get an algae scraper of some sort and scrub the glass before removing water.

 

[Jmanolinsky]

Brandon,

I take out my rocks and fake plants every week at water change time. I put them in a bucket with about two gallons of water and half a cup of bleach. They soak while I vacuum and drain the tank. By the time I am through draining the water, my plants are clean as the day I bought them. I rinse a couple of times and then add some dechlor. Swish them around a bit and put them right back in the tank and refill. I've been doing this every week for almost a year and I haven't had a problem yet. You could use less bleach than I do, but it might take a little longer.

Just my experience,
Jman

 

[Heyguy74]

How about a bushynose pleco? Its should take care of your algae problems. Depending on the algae

 

[brandon O]

i mean when i have a small tank i am cleaning out and the gravel is dirty and the plants have algae on them.

 

[DJRansome]

When you say "cleaning out" do you mean tearing down the tank to put it in storage? Or it's a tank with fish and you are cleaning things during a water change?

I would not use vinegar on plants or gravel. As stated it is good to use on glass for calcium deposits.

For an ongoing tank, I would only using siphoning or tank water to clean gravel. I might gently brush off plant leaves or rub with my fingers. But mostly I remove the problem causing the algae on plants and let it go away naturally without touching the plants. Leaves too badly impacted are removed to encourage new, clean growth.

For the original question of decor and rocks where you would remove the items and treat outside of the tank I would use bleach/dechlor or hydrogen peroxide. Usually I just scrub with a brush, no chemicals added.