Feeding dish for fish tank

[laritheloud]

OK. So. My husband went ahead and cleaned my aquarium feeding dishes with dish soap, and now I'm nervous to put them back in the tanks. Is there anything I should soak them with to ensure it's safe for my shrimp, snails, and fish? I have a set of ceramic and a set of glass dishes.

[Guppysnail]

Boil them and then hit them with prime straight from the bottle. At least that’s what I did when hubby cooked with my ceramic water heating dish and washed it. 🤦‍♀️  I cannot guarantee it but I have seen no ill affects.  

[laritheloud]

On 7/24/2021 at 2:21 PM, Guppysnail said:

Boil them and then hit them with prime straight from the bottle. At least that’s what I did when hubby cooked with my ceramic water heating dish and washed it. 🤦‍♀️  I cannot guarantee it but I have seen no ill affects.  

Thanks, I'll give it a try!

[HH Morant]

I wash my hands with soap. I rinse them. Then I stick them in my aquarium.

[laritheloud]

On 7/24/2021 at 2:43 PM, HH Morant said:

I wash my hands with soap. I rinse them. Then I stick them in my aquarium.

fair point 🤣

[Guppysnail]

On 7/24/2021 at 2:43 PM, HH Morant said:

I wash my hands with soap. I rinse them. Then I stick them in my aquarium.

Well when you put it that way 🤣. Me too. Duh. 

[CT_]

Don't tell my wife but I use kitchen stuff all the time with the fish.  I just rinse it real quick first... And after

 

We use soap and water and rinse in the lab with much more sensitive stuff all the time.  If it's really important it gets an extra rinse with di water.

 

 

[DaveO]

I bet some Coke or Sprite would bubble any residue off that dish

[lefty o]

a good hot water rinse should get any residue off.

[laritheloud]

See, this is why googling is sometimes a curse. All the doom and gloom stories about how soap residue will stick to everything and kill all your fish 🤣

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

I'll add my 2 cents. I wash my arms with Dawn (the only kitchen soap I use) and put my arms in my tank, never had a problem but of course I rinse well. I always think of the duckies in the commercial when they wash oil off the poor little things..... 

....that being said, as long as you rinse well there will never be an issue. 

Edited July 24, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[Odd Duck]

@laritheloud Dean (Master breeder) posted that video where he said he cleans his new tanks with Dawn dish soap to remove an oily residue you can feel on the tanks.  He uses Fawn specifically because it rinses clean.  Just make your dishes are well rinsed.  You should be good.  I think soap residue is more of an issue with porous material or if people aren’t rinsing well.

[Guppysnail]

On 7/25/2021 at 1:49 AM, Odd Duck said:

@laritheloud Dean (Master breeder) posted that video where he said he cleans his new tanks with Dawn dish soap to remove an oily residue you can feel on the tanks.  He uses Fawn specifically because it rinses clean.  Just make your dishes are well rinsed.  You should be good.  I think soap residue is more of an issue with porous material or if people aren’t rinsing well.

That makes sense dawn is what they use during oil spills because it animal sa. Thanks for this. 

[KentFishFanUK]

On 7/24/2021 at 8:11 PM, CT_ said:

Don't tell my wife but I use kitchen stuff all the time with the fish.  I just rinse it real quick first... And after

 

We use soap and water and rinse in the lab with much more sensitive stuff all the time.  If it's really important it gets an extra rinse with di water.

 

 

Lol yep same here, as soon as she pops out for a while it's "quick make up a batch of repashy with kitchen utensils while I can" or whatever haha

[Kilrkitty08]

Am I the only one who said "Feeding Dish"? In an Aquarium?? How does that work? 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@Kilrkitty08 yep, strange but true. I use them in all my tanks, main focus: snails and bottom feeders, though my Black Neons will peck out of them even on occassion my Harlequins (but far less often). One of my feeder bowls is literally a fish shaped fishbowl, but there are many things people use for this (including the clear lab culture looking glass dishes some use for shrimp). They are GREAT to help contain bottom feeder messes (having larger river pebble in one tank keeps most of it from just sinking beyond their reach) and to monitor what the fish and other invertebrates ARE eating. 

Edited August 1, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[laritheloud]

@Kilrkitty08 Yep, exactly what @xXInkedPhoenixX said! I use it mostly for inverts (shrimp/snails) to reach some food without it getting lost to the substrate gravel. It's also a convenient place to put blanched veggies for feeding and easy clean up.

Also, UPDATE: I rinsed the dish a second time, made sure it was dry, and stuck it in my aquarium. No ill effects. Found a berried blue dream shrimp waddling around today.

Edited August 1, 2021 by laritheloud

[CalmedByFish]

Straight white vinegar breaks up soap residue. Just rub the vinegar on well, rinse well, and you're good. 

There are different kinds of soaps. Some really do rinse well on their own with hot water and rubbing. Others, like dishwasher detergent, leave residue (which is not always visible). That's where the vinegar comes in.

[laritheloud]

On 7/31/2021 at 10:48 PM, CalmedByFish said:

Straight white vinegar breaks up soap residue. Just rub the vinegar on well, rinse well, and you're good. 

There are different kinds of soaps. Some really do rinse well on their own with hot water and rubbing. Others, like dishwasher detergent, leave residue (which is not always visible). That's where the vinegar comes in.

For what it's worth, I never ever put aquarium stuff in the dishwasher. The only things we use in our dishwasher are utensils (except for knives) and dishes. Everything else is hand-wash in this house.

Thank you so much for the tip, though! I'll use vinegar whenever I want to do a cleaning next time, just to be safe.