How much bleach to use to clean a tank
- Thread starter keiths
- Start date
by the way-its a great way to damage the strength of your silicone as well and kill the life from it or possibly cause leaks(bleach is corrosive)
I work in a pet store and we use bleach on everything in our store, including aquarium stuff. I used to use it at home for all kinds of stuff, as well, although I've recently switched over to using chlorhexadine, because it breaks down to simply being water after a couple days, and because it's non-toxic, anyway. I've always used bleach in a 1:19 ratio with water. Everyone who's nixing bleach is right, bleach is definitely harmful, but it seems like people are missing out on something here-
What is in bleach that makes it effective? Chlorine! Go ahead, use bleach! Just rinse it really well (preferably with hot water). Heat, air, and sunlight all help biodegrade bleach faster than it normally does (which DOES happen to standard hypochlorite bleach). And finally, rinse it with a STRONG solution of a dechlorinator. At work we soak decorations, rocks, containers, UGF parts, etc. . . in strong bleach solutions, and simply rinse them in hot water then rinse with a strong Start Right solution. We use the powder and mix it to the point that it turns the water really blue. We normally let stuff sit out 24 hours after that, but we've all scrubbed/soaked things in bleach and then put them back in a tank directly after soaking for about 10 minutes in Start Right, too, and we've never had a problem with it.
Now, as they've said, bleach is corrosive, so it will discolor things, and it'll definitely shorten the life on your seals on your aquariums. But it can safely be used around fish as long as you make an effort to neutralize it.
What is in bleach that makes it effective? Chlorine! Go ahead, use bleach! Just rinse it really well (preferably with hot water). Heat, air, and sunlight all help biodegrade bleach faster than it normally does (which DOES happen to standard hypochlorite bleach). And finally, rinse it with a STRONG solution of a dechlorinator. At work we soak decorations, rocks, containers, UGF parts, etc. . . in strong bleach solutions, and simply rinse them in hot water then rinse with a strong Start Right solution. We use the powder and mix it to the point that it turns the water really blue. We normally let stuff sit out 24 hours after that, but we've all scrubbed/soaked things in bleach and then put them back in a tank directly after soaking for about 10 minutes in Start Right, too, and we've never had a problem with it.
Now, as they've said, bleach is corrosive, so it will discolor things, and it'll definitely shorten the life on your seals on your aquariums. But it can safely be used around fish as long as you make an effort to neutralize it.
What about trying to clean out a hospital tank? People say that anything else will die from a good cleaning, and a good drying out. But what if you want to make sure that theres no meds left? Or is it not an issue?
run a fresh carbon bag in the filter of the quarentine tank for day before taking it down if you are worried about residual meds..that should do the trick..
Bleach isnt really great at cleaning tanks,white vinegar works much better.
To sterilize items or tanks I use bleach but rinse really well then leave out in the sun a few days.
To sterilize items or tanks I use bleach but rinse really well then leave out in the sun a few days.
To remove beard/hair algae I use bleach at a ratio of 20 to 1. I even clean live plants with a 60 dip in this solution. Rinse well and double dose with dechlorinator.
For large used tanks, I use 1 cup per 2 gallons, fill the tank and let sit for a week. Clean out, rinse and completely dry before use or repair.
For large used tanks, I use 1 cup per 2 gallons, fill the tank and let sit for a week. Clean out, rinse and completely dry before use or repair.
Don't expect to get good information on the internet. It is not peer reviewed. Anyone can post absolutely anything as if it were concrete fact, no matter how miserably wrong it really is. Additionally, you don't know who is posting what. For instance, a percentage of the people in this thread are saying to absolutely not use bleach because of what ever reason (actually you'll notice that they typically lack a reason). The other percentage says that it is ok. So who is really right? Some people have expressed their opinion as fact without knowing the facts. You don't know who actually knows or who is regurgitating what everyone else has said. (If enough people repeat something totally wrong, that makes it right...right?)keiths;2597432; said:
Bleach is Sodium Hypochlorite (NaClO). This exists only as a liquid. As it dries, the sodium and chloride ions are left to fend for themselves and the result is the formation of Sodium Chloride (NaCl). If this looks familiar, it is because it is table salt.
The answer that you will find in scientific journals and in the chemistry lab is to rinse three times.
You can follow that up with dechlor in the last rinse for piece of mind. You can do the dechlor when you fill the tank, if you don't already use it.
