Suitability of used (reptile) tanks...?

[manytanks]

I have a line on a 15-20 gallon bare tank for $10 that previously was home to one turtle. I've heard/read that these are sometimes not useable for fish "because of residual whatevers that one can't ever get rid of". Hmmm. Well.

So: is there anything special I should do to clean it for use as a fish tank? Or is the above urban legend/myth true?

//Manytanks

[Bal]

Hi manytanks

I cant see it being a problem to use it for fish, it should be safe after disinfecting it. A couple of the small tanks I am using here as hospital/fry tanks were originally used by my son for reptiles.. one was even a feeder tank, where he fed the lizards their crickets. I just soaked them really well with diluted bleach, rinsed well, and they've been in use for fish for a few months now with no problems.

If it was a tank made especially for reptiles, it may not be water tight, but if its an actual fish tank, it should be fine.

[BigDaddy]

Biggest problem, other than not being water tight, is that a reptile tank is gonna be pretty scratched up from the little buggers claws most of the time.