Preparing an ageing barrel

[KevinInBayCity]

This forum is great and thanks for all of the good advise!

Here is where I have another question.

I was given a "Food Grade" plastic barrel, 50gal, which in it's former life contained Chili Peppers shipped in from Greece. I have washed it out using vinegar but the aroma of Chili Pepers still lingers. I don't want to harm my Discus so what would you do if you were in my position, clean with other methods (if so any ideas would be helpful) or junk it and look for something different?

Thanks is advance for your answers!

[DerekFF]

Might try a detergent. Some sort of dish soap like joy or dawn. After a vinegar wash and light detergent wash if it still smells like peppers I wouldn't worry. Just make sure to rinse thoroughly after the detergent rinse. I recommend detergent because there may be some oils left over from the chili and the detergent will really help blow that out.


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[KevinInBayCity]

Thanks DerekFF, I will give that a try, I read that a 10% bleach solution soaked for 10min then rinsed repeatedly will also do the trick. Your's sounds much safer.

[Kirbs]

I have the same problem. I have 4 barrels that had Kosher pickles in them. I bleached them for over 24 hours and rinsed them thoroughly. I then filled them up with water & baking soda. Let them stand for well over 24 hours and they still smell! My wife googled the question & said to put newspaper in them. That shoulda sorb the smell. Giving that a try now. If that doesn't work, I have 2 boxes a baking soda that I am going to put in there. That should work. I also mentioned my problem to somebody at work & she said to put charcoal briquettes in. Never heard about that one, but will try it if nothing else works!

[pauline]

Fresh ground coffee is excellent at absorbing odors. I spilled gasoline in the back of my SUV and found out that truck drivers use fresh coffee grounds to control the smell of diesel fuel tracked into their cabs. It worked in my car. Another time I discovered a potato that had rotted in the cupboard. That's a nasty odor. After cleaning the cupboard the coffee kept any possible residual odors away.

[ericatdallas]

I don't think it will harm your fish. If you've cleaned it well and rinsed it out, then you should be good to go (for food odors).

If the smell bothers you, then that's a different issue, but I'm guessing it only smells when you put your nose close?

When I bought my barrels, I was told they had olive oil in them ... since I didn't trust it (I prefer to be cautious), I did a soap wash/scrub, 48 hour bleach soak, 24 hour plain water soak, several days out in the summer sun with lids off, quick bleach soak (30 minutes or so), 24 hour water soak, and rinse.

I figured with all that, even if there was something harmful it wouldn't leach out at a rate that was too harmful. I would have preferred to have smelled food because then I would actually know there used to be food in it.

[DiscusAB]

Baking soda