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I'm buying a 45 gallon tank that was previously used for fish. I'm a little paranoid about disease, so I'm wondering how much cleaning I should do before putting a turtle in there. My last tank I just rinsed out well with plain water, and didn't notice any issues. Should I just do the same with this one, or should I do something to disinfect it? I will have the opportunity to run the tank for probably at least a week before I put the turtle in (the tank will be getting set up at Michael's place, Slowpoke will be staying with me while I give whatever treatment he needs) So to sum up: should I disinfect or just rinse with water, if I should disinfect, how should I go about it, and once I've got the tank filled, other than a water conditioner, is there anything I should add to protect my turtle from anything that's left behind?

I would just rinse it really well with water. That's what I always do with my tanks. When you use disinfectant, you never really know what is going to get left behind and could harm the turtle. After cleaning it well with water you should be able to see how clean it is. You should be fine with the water conditioner.

Some people like using vinegar for disinfecting.

If I was in your shoes, I would prolly use some hydrogen peroxide since that tends to kill a lot of that "bad" stuff but is also not harmful after you rinse since it breaks down into water + oxygen. Also won't harm YOU while you are cleaning!

For me personally, I don't use bleach at all in my house (not even in the laundry cycle!). Every cleaner in my house is environmentally-friendly and the main ingredient in the "environmentally friendly" kitchen/bathroom cleaner I have is hydrogen peroxide which is why I suggested it. Another nerdy factoid: hydrogen peroxide is the main ingredient in hospital cleaners that are used for cleaning off blood too.

Whatever you do to clean the tank, just make sure to rinse well!

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Note: Even though bleach is not recommended to use to clean your tank and accessories, some keepers do use a diluted solution for general disinfecting.

2 oz. of bleach to one gallon of water can be used to create a solution of approximately 1.5% bleach. Afterward rinse well with clean water repeatedly and allow the object(s) to air dry for at least 24 hours or longer. This allows for fumes and chlorine to dissipate.

i use vinegar.

For used tanks, I've always cleaned them well and disinfected using 2 oz of bleach to a gallon of water, rinsed numerous times and let the tank air dry overnight. I've never had any problems doing this.

i always use baking soda and water it works great

Feed your RES in different tank to keep the water clean. Change 25% water a week, have a good filter, use salt ( 1% max ), and don't have the light on too much as moss can grow uncontrolable.
My friend do that and everything is ok now ( his RES is over 12 year ^__^ ).