Cleaning a fish tank?

I would wash it out with hot water & hydrogen peroxide. The peroxide will disinfect your tank & is pefectly safe for fish as it is used as a way to keep your water oxygenated during power outages.

Plz take in mind there is no fish that does the cleaning of the tank for you, there is a fish for special purpose like eating algae and eating the remaining food at the bottom of the tank, for that pleccs, cat-fish a, algae eaters and loaches may be considered. The cleaning of the tank will be always your task and responsibility.

NEVER,NEVER,NEVER use soap or any other chemicals in a fish tank!!!! These are very toxic even in very small amounts so it is very hard to make sure you got it all out. You can use a mild bleach solution ( used to be a no no also ) because you can use a heavy dose of dechlorinator to remove the bleach .I prefer not use bleach either . Fill the tank up and let it soak for a day. Then drain it and make a paste out of salt and scrub it with the salt. This will scour it with out scratching it ( not sure about acrylic tho ) and will also disinfect a lot of fishy diseases . Rinse well to get out the salt . ( Salt in small amounts will not harm your fish ) Good Luck.

Most pet stores that carry aqurium supplies will have a scrubber that will do the job. don't use soap, and if you use bleach make sure you use chlorine neutralizer when rinsing it out. I have had Cichlids, marine and goldfish for over 30 years now, and have had to clean some pretty funky tanks but never used and never will use anything except a scrubber made for the job.

Just use scouring pad and a bit of dish soap. Make you rinse out the soap really well before you fill it up though.

There seems to be a lot hysteria about soap and fish. Its true that it is toxic to fish but it also water soluble and so isn't that hard to remove when your are done cleaning. After you have rinsed it 4 or 5 times with fresh water the chances are there won't even be a single molecule left.

Here is an article which provides ample information about fish tank maintenance and cleaning. It will guide you how to remove algae and debris, how to do water change, how to clean glass etc. Here's link to the article :

http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/articles/54

Make sure you have done fishless cycling, before adding a new fish to the tank. The following article might guide you, as you are new to fishkeeping.

http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/articles/53

Best of luck!

Depends on the type of tank. Glass, you can throw a little bleach in there to kill anything that may be living there and give it a scrub down with warm water and the bleach. Acrylic, I'd use vinegar and water only.

Either way, give it a good rinse after cleaning.

just wash it with warm water, rinse with cold water, if your going to scrub it with soap,rinse it well to avoid soap contact with your fish. and dry it with a clean towel, add some water into your aquarium with some chlorine remover and a little bit of aquatic salt(not kitchen salt) . if you wont add any chlorine remover, let the water sit overnight for some heavy and harm chemicals to subside.

Bleach will kill all diseases, just check and check again that it is well rinsed afterwards.

UPDATE: In response to answer below. Since water companies have started adding chloramine (different to chlorine) to water supplies, it is no longer appropriate to just leave water to stand over night. Water conditioner is essential