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im buying a 55 gall saltwater tank for my turtle but i was wondering if there was any certain way i should clean it out. also should i use the fake plants that were in the aquarium or is that to much saltiness.
p.s: are there any effective ways to cool an aquarium other than a water chiller becasue thatsjust expensive

I don't know if there's anything special you need to do for a saltwater tank, but I clean my tanks with straight vinegar. Then rinse and rinse until you can't smell the vinegar any more.
Or you could use a mild bleach solution (I think 10:1 water to bleach is recommended), and again rinse until you can't smell the bleach any more. With bleach, it's also recommended you let the tank air-dry for at least 24 hours, so any residue bleach evaporates.

The plants I think you could dunk in a small bucket of vinegar, and even leave them in there for a few minutes.

For cooling tanks, there are a few ways.
I put a frozen 2L milk jug in the tank. It seems to cool it about a degree, maybe two. You could also use a frozen pop bottle.
I replace the glass top that covers half of the tank with an old fridge rack. The glass top traps a lot of the heat, but the rack allows for more evaporation.
You can also have a fan blowing across the water (make sure it's not blowing on the basking area) and that will help increase evaporation.
Finally, partial water changes with cool water.

Hmm... Vinegar, smart move. Wish I had vinegar lying around so I could do that.

salt water fr turtle? RES i thought were fresh water turtles? :-/

Munkly - the tank he's buying was previously used for salt water fish. He's going to fill it with fresh water for the RES

I would just use soap, water, and elbow grease.....Repeat if necessary.

You don't want to use soap in an aquarium. Soap residue is very hard to get all of it off.

BullDog wrote:You don't want to use soap in an aquarium. Soap residue is very hard to get all of it off.

Yeah... I like spray on bleaches better.

Bleach should only be used if the tank is extremely filthy, and the dirt has become a possible health hazard. A bleached down tank should be rinsed thoroughly until it no longer smells like bleach. When I used bleach a couple of days ago, I spent well over 30 minutes rinsing the tank. (A ton of potting soil got in the tank. It wouldn't come off with just water alone.)