How do I clean an old (dry) aquarium to reuse it?

[Apollo8j]

I have an old 30 gallon aquarium that I will be using to set up an aquarium at my school. (We decided not to use a 55 gallon). What I need to do is clean it out, because its previous occupant was a corn snake. There is a little umm... debris at the bottom that I need to clean up, as well as the whole tank itself. Someone once reccommended that I use vinegar to clean the aquarium and equipment, as long as I rinsed it all off very well. Is this a good idea? Is there something else I should use? Also, when cleaning, is it alright to wear rubber or some other type of glove? Thanks a lot, I really want to get this started.

 

[Anonymous]

I use full strengh chlorine to clean my tanks. I keep snakes and have often used the aquariums for fish.....later. Use rubber gloves and Paper towels.... then rinse it very well. Let the tank dry and rest for a few days before filling it with water. The chlorine will be gone.and you will have a sterile tank to work with. My very first salt water tank was cleaned by filling it with water.and adding a cup of chlorine in it for a week with all the equipment going. The livestock was not place in the tank till the chlorine was gone. This was a common way to set up a marine tank many many moons ago. Have Fun!

 

[Mogo]

I cleaned my recycled tanks starting with the least harsh- water and plastic scrub pad, making sure you don't scratch the glass with a piece of gravel or something on it. I moved up to more harsh (vinegar, CLR, Javex, etc.) only as needed to get an area clean. The obvious key is to rinse it very thouroughly. Access to a power washer helps. After rinsing, I let the tank stand a few days full of water, then final rinse with DO water. Final polish (outside tank) with windex etc. applied to a paper towel not the tank. (If my wife ever read this she would wonder why I haven't used this approach on the windows around here. :lol