Bleach sanitization of aquarium

[Len]

A few questions before I do the bleach next week:
1. What percentage solution should I aim for? I hear 5-10%.
2. What are the dangers of me running the bleach solution for over 15 minutes? I know I need at least 10 minutes to kill everything.
3. If there is still a little SW left, any problems? I don't know if I can remove all the SW from the tank (probably 98+% removal).
4. After I use bleach, I plan to rinse with FW and let air dry. Is this all I need before doing the final SW fill?

 

[Anonymous]

A few questions before I do the bleach next week:
1. What percentage solution should I aim for? I hear 5-10%.
2. What are the dangers of me running the bleach solution for over 15 minutes? I know I need at least 10 minutes to kill everything.
3. If there is still a little SW left, any problems? I don't know if I can remove all the SW from the tank (probably 98+% removal).
4. After I use bleach, I plan to rinse with FW and let air dry. Is this all I need before doing the final SW fill?

1. 10% solution (1C/gal is PLENTY and should do the job well, I haven't calculated the percentage but it's what I have always used) sounds closer, if you're trying to make certain you kill everything.
2. More 'dangers' by not running it long enough, i.e. you don't kill all pathogens.
3. No, no problems, might smell funky.
4. Yes, and use your nose to make sure it's fully dissipated.

 

[Len]

K, thanks. New territory for me, and I NEED to make sure this reboot works.

My checklist of things to do is about 50 items long.

 

[Anonymous]

It'll be fine.

 

[Anonymous]

What Marina said, and you can also dose it with declor as mentioned for extra peace of mind.

 

[Anonymous]

Also to get that last bit of water out, use a big sponge to just absorb it or one of the "absorbing cloths" (Shamwow, etc) and simply wring it out in a bucket. It works surprisingly well and getting that last quarter inch of water off the bottom goes surprisingly fast.

 

[Len]

The bottom of the sump and the inside of my overflow are the two areas I don't think I can get fully dry. I can only imagine what's in my overflow 8O

 

[Anonymous]

Get one of those stick-grabbers, the pinchy kind that's flexible. Use that to hold a piece of toweling to get into the tough places.

See the little claw?

http://www.google.com/products?hl=en&q= ... if&start=0

 

[Anonymous]

You can let the bleach go for way longer than 10 minutes.

I'd definitely do a final fill with water and a boatload of sodium thiosulfate, turn all your equipment on, and then another rinse and dump with saltwater. You can't be too careful.

 

[Len]

You can let the bleach go for way longer than 10 minutes.

I'd definitely do a final fill with water and a boatload of sodium thiosulfate, turn all your equipment on, and then another rinse and dump with saltwater. You can't be too careful.

I bought 8 (or maybe 16) oz of sodium thiosulfate (kent dechlorinator ... no stupid slime coat additives). I plan to drain the sw, add fw, drain the fw, add more fw with 10% bleach solution, run for 15 minutes (or more), drain this solution, add fw and decholorinator, drain, then fill one more time with just fw and drain again. Air dry for a few days, then add FW and salt mix. I'm guessing this process will kill everything and won't have any nasty residue.

 

[Anonymous]

don't waste time with the towel.

 

[Anonymous]

You can let the bleach go for way longer than 10 minutes.

I'd definitely do a final fill with water and a boatload of sodium thiosulfate, turn all your equipment on, and then another rinse and dump with saltwater. You can't be too careful.

I bought 8 (or maybe 16) oz of sodium thiosulfate (kent dechlorinator ... no stupid slime coat additives). I plan to drain the sw, add fw, drain the fw, add more fw with 10% bleach solution, run for 15 minutes (or more), drain this solution, add fw and decholorinator, drain, then fill one more time with just fw and drain again. Air dry for a few days, then add FW and salt mix. I'm guessing this process will kill everything and won't have any nasty residue.

Should be perfect.

 

[Anonymous]

I've used bleach on aquariums and equipment many times with no issues. I've let things set overnight in bleach. I just rinse the hell out of it and let it dry. Once it's dry, it shouldn't smell like bleach anymore. You're good to go.

Bleach away.

I've used muratic acid too.

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

At work we run QT tanks 24 hours bleach then 24 hours with thio, with a drain and a fill in between.

 

[Anonymous]

Sounds like how LBAOP does/did it.

 

[Anonymous]

Have you thought about building a pyre in your yard and ritually cleansing the tank through fire?

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry I missed this until now, I will add another recommendation for the thioisulfate.

 

[Len]

Any idea how much Sodium Thiosulfate I'll need for about a 200g tank? I don't know what Kent uses for their declorhinator so I'm thinking about buying dry Sodium Thiosulfate to be safe.

 

[Anonymous]

I believe most OTC dechlors are somewhere between a 1%-5% solution. From there, mere teaspoons per gallon are required, so Idon't think it'll take much. 5lb tub from TheChemistryStore.com was around $10 last time I checked.

 

[Len]

Yep, I bought 4 pounds for well under $10. The problem is, I don't know how much to add and there is no instructions specific to this.