Can airstones be sanitized?

[FINWIN]

Last week I lost my syno catfish Cash (approx 9-10 yrs old) and there were three large drum sized airstones with him. I know normally they would be replaced, but right now the airstones are soaking in a bleach solution. Is this worth it since they're so porous? I'm concerned that even treating with prime there will be some bleach trapped in all the tiny air holes in the core. Anyone ever try this?

I'm only soaking them because of their size (4" x 2" diameter). I'm not too cheap to replace them. Does sanitation make sense here?

 

[SK45]

Its best to rinse them afterwards, and run it in some clean water for a while after. I'd recommend running it in an empty tank (after rinsing) and testing the water in that tank after a couple days or however long you want to test it for. If the "test" water looks good, it should be good to go

 

[jjohnwm]

You mentioned the word "cheap", which automatically sent me an email alert about this thread.

I've done exactly what you are doing now. With small airstones, it's not worth it, even for me. With bigger ones, I have set up a siphon using a length of airline connecting two containers of water, with the airstone attached to the airstone at the top end of the siphon. This draws water into the stone and then out the airline; it's slow, but if you leave it for a day or so you will see the water level in the upper container dropping as it flows into and through the stone and then into the airline. No bleach smell or problems of any sort afterward.

If the airstone is merely soaking in bleach, I'd bet that it could stay in there for many days and still not have the bleach actually penetrate it completely. I don't even bother trying anymore, think it's a waste of time.

 

[Toby_H]

You mentioned the word "cheap", which automatically sent me an email alert about this thread.

I've done exactly what you are doing now. With small airstones, it's not worth it, even for me. With bigger ones, I have set up a siphon using a length of airline connecting two containers of water, with the airstone attached to the airstone at the top end of the siphon. This draws water into the stone and then out the airline; it's slow, but if you leave it for a day or so you will see the water level in the upper container dropping as it flows into and through the stone and then into the airline. No bleach smell or problems of any sort afterward.

If the airstone is merely soaking in bleach, I'd bet that it could stay in there for many days and still not have the bleach actually penetrate it completely. I don't even bother trying anymore, think it's a waste of time.

Brilliant!

As suggested... Fill the top container with bleach, put the airstone in the top container at the end of an airline and siphon down. This runs bleach through the inside of your stone to clean it.

One you ran that through to your satisfaction...

In addition... Fill the top container with water, put the airstone in the bottom container at the end of an airline and siphon down. This runs water through the inside of your stone to rinse the bleach out.