Prepping an old tank for new fish

A few months ago, all three of my friend's goldfish mysteriously died.
Their water levels were ok, and they all went within a few days of
each other. My friend considers himself a very responsible pet owner
and took it pretty hard, and gave up on fish.

I now have his 10 gallon tank, complete with light, filter, heater,
and other cool stuff. Since we don't know what killed the old fish,
what sort of precautions do I need to take? Everything has been dry
for the past few months, and I just finished cleaning everything off
with scalding hot water and a new sponge. Is that enough? I also have
various anti-fungal and anti-algae tablets that he threw in with the
rest of the stuff. Is there something specific I should treat the
water with (in addition to the chlorine remover)?

I plan to set everything up and let it run for a few days to make sure
everything is running smoothly. Once everything's up to snuff, Bob the
Oranda will have a new home :)

"Kellbot" <kellbot DeleteThis @gmail.com> wrote in message
news:bcb514de.0409271103.69d5a986@posting.google.com...
> A few months ago, all three of my friend's goldfish mysteriously died.
> Their water levels were ok, and they all went within a few days of
> each other. My friend considers himself a very responsible pet owner
> and took it pretty hard, and gave up on fish.
>
> I now have his 10 gallon tank, complete with light, filter, heater,
> and other cool stuff. Since we don't know what killed the old fish,
> what sort of precautions do I need to take? Everything has been dry
> for the past few months, and I just finished cleaning everything off
> with scalding hot water and a new sponge. Is that enough? I also have
> various anti-fungal and anti-algae tablets that he threw in with the
> rest of the stuff. Is there something specific I should treat the
> water with (in addition to the chlorine remover)?
>
> I plan to set everything up and let it run for a few days to make sure
> everything is running smoothly. Once everything's up to snuff, Bob the
> Oranda will have a new home :)

You might want to clean it with some bleach and water (10%). Make sure it's
plain bleach, not lemon scented. Also watch out for the sponges with
fungicide/soap added. Rinse everything with water after the bleach bath and
dechlorinate well.

If Bob has a rubber duck or other ornament you might want to put it in the
new tank while you wait for it to cycle. The idea is to give the
ammonia/nitrate eating bacteria a head start in the new tank by transferring
them from the old tank.