Did I ruin my air stones?

[MrsE88]

I’ve never had to sanitize any of my equipment before, so I’m not sure if I made a mistake.
I wanted to take my air stones from the pond and use them in my tanks. As some here already know I lost all my koi this winter. I had to wait and take them out as the ice thawed. So these things had a bad funk to them and I’d imagine some undesirable bacteria.
I decided to bleach them.
I think I over did it though. I put them in a mix of 40% bleach and 60% water. Soaked for an hour and then rinsed a bunch of times.
I have one hooked up to an air pump and it keeps making bubbles! Like bubbles that don’t pop. Did I ruin them by using way too much bleach?

I thought I’d soak them, rinse, and then soak in a bucket with safe added in. I didn’t expect this. Ugh.

 

[tlindsey]

I’ve never had to sanitize any of my equipment before, so I’m not sure if I made a mistake.
I wanted to take my air stones from the pond and use them in my tanks. As some here already know I lost all my koi this winter. I had to wait and take them out as the ice thawed. So these things had a bad funk to them and I’d imagine some undesirable bacteria.
I decided to bleach them.
I think I over did it though. I put them in a mix of 40% bleach and 60% water. Soaked for an hour and then rinsed a bunch of times.
I have one hooked up to an air pump and it keeps making bubbles! Like bubbles that don’t pop. Did I ruin them by using way too much bleach?

I thought I’d soak them, rinse, and then soak in a bucket with safe added in. I didn’t expect this. Ugh.

I personally would just throw them away air stone's break down easily.

 

[Backfromthedead]

If theyre pricy airstones then maybe run them in clean water for a couple days and see if the problem persists. If theyre not id just throw them away.

 

[MrsE88]

I personally would just throw them away air stone's break down easily.

I just hate to toss them because they were bought just this past fall.

If theyre pricy airstones then maybe run them in clean water for a couple days and see if the problem persists. If theyre not id just throw them away.

And that’s the other reason. They weren’t the cheap throw away air stones.
Such a bummer. I hate air stones. I go through so many.

Does this mean I shouldn’t bother trying to clean the others either? Or is there a safer way to clean them?
Boiling water maybe?

 

[squint]

You're supposed to clean them using acid. Never done it myself though.

 

[TwoHedWlf]

What do you mean bubbles that don't pop? Like don't pop on the surface of the water so it's covered with foam? That would imply that you've got some kind of detergent or something in the water. You've probably contaminated them. I'd just throw them away. Even expensive airstones are pretty cheap.

 

[MrsE88]

What do you mean bubbles that don't pop? Like don't pop on the surface of the water so it's covered with foam? That would imply that you've got some kind of detergent or something in the water. You've probably contaminated them. I'd just throw them away. Even expensive airstones are pretty cheap.

Yes bubbles covering the top.
This is how it looks right now.

I did soak them in vinegar first then bleach. Could that be why?
And I agree. It will be cheaper to replace these then buying new stock if it killed off a tank >.<

 

[celebrist]

Looks like soap, wow

 

[MrsE88]

Looks like soap, wow

It does! But the bucket I used is strictly a fish bucket that’s never had soap in it.
It’s so weird that it’s so bubbly.

 

[celebrist]

Unless they were crazy expensive I would toss them