Bleach?

[Tolak]

It has come to my attention that there is a major difference in opinion here on the use of bleach for cleaning aquatics related equipment. I would like to hear of any bad experiences anyone has had personally with use of a bleach/water solution to clean any of their tanks or equipment, as well as the procedure used. A friend of mine knew someone type of stories don't really help, as you will never know the procedure that caused a problem.

I personally use a 1 part bleach to 19 part water, or slightly stronger solution on equipment. I pretty much guesstimate, so it's probably towards the stronger side. After using this solution, I rinse thouroughly with tap water, then use or let dry. I have not had a problem with years of doing this, nor has anyone else I know who uses bleach to disinfect and rinses properly afterwards.

Just wondering if any of the members here who are adament about not using bleach have a reason for not using it.

Tolak

 

[ccg]

I have only ever used bleach once, and maybe it was because my mix was possible to strong? Anyhow, I was using it to clean some rocks that had previously been in a tank and had sat in storage and never cleand or looked at in years so they were a mess. They cleaned up nice, but the problem I had was that even after cleaning them with bleach, and pouring boiling water over them they stilled smelled like bleach. I rinsed the rocks many times and I could always smell the bleach on them so I never did attempt to put them in my tanks. I have not tried to use bleach again since. I worry now that it might get into the tanks and kill my little buddies.

As for how storng I mixed it? I can't really remember exactly, but I put maybe an inch in the bottom of a 1.5L spray bottle, and then added water.

 

[Boxcar Muzzdogg]

I have yet to use bleach on my personal aquatic setup, but I have been using bleach at the lfs I work at for 2 years and its great. At the lfs I have a 55 gallon bucket that is strictly for aquatic related tasks. I take whatever articles I am cleaning and place them in the bucket. then I fill up the bucket with water to submerge the articles (this usually amounts to approx. 10-15 gallons). As the bucket is filling I add bleach, varrying from about 2 tbs - 1/3 cup. Then it sits for 24 hours. Then the articles are thoroughly rinsed. The bleach solution is dumped and the bucket is rinsed. The articles are placed back in the bucket and submerged in freshwater for an hour. Then they are again thoroughly rinsed and ready for use.

 

[rdd1952]

I used bleach on 2 different tanks, one glass and one acrylic. I didn't have any problems with either of them. Because I had read that acrylic would possibly absorb so of the bleach and then leach it back out, I filled the tank up, set it out on the picnic table in the sun and let it run all day. I had read on an old thread (near the end of the thread) about doing that because the sun would neutralize the bleach out. It apparently worked as I filled it back up that night and put my betta back in and had no problems at all.

 

[Vegan Peaches]

I just boil most things before putting them in my tank (coconuts, fake plants, driftwood). I don't like the smell of bleach; I tend to use ammonia when I clean out my tanks, though that is rare.

 

[Synirr]

I avoid using bleach whenever possible because I hate how it feels. If you get it on you it's so hard to get it off and it feels all slimey
I've used a mild solution to bleach live plants when nuking an aquarium before though and everything worked out fine.

 

[Tolak]

Still waiting to hear the bleach horror stories.

I used bleach on a couple buckets of rocks, got them from a landscaping out fit. An hour of bleach solution, an hour of fresh water, & an hour of fresh water with double the dechlor. I have them in many of my tanks, haven't had a problem yet. It's the same procedure I follow for larger tanks.

rdd1952, I heard about sunlight neuteralizing bleach, much as sunlight does to chlorine in an outdoor swimming pool.

What I'm trying to figure out here is if there is something I am doing that I am not noticing that makes bleach work perfectly safe for me. Sometimes there are stupid little things that you miss that can have a major impact. I've always figured that chlorine bleach is nothing more than concentrated chlorinated water, and when treated as such is perfectly fine for aquatics use.


Tolak

 

[anvil63]

These responses are about what I expected, I was curious if some materials could absorb the bleach (ie the previous python bleach thread). I will also add my vote for no bad experiences with bleach.

by the way you really need to get some pics of your Springfields uploaded. They're styling is my favorite of all the 1911's.

Carl - fellow gunbroker.com peruser

 

[Inchworm]

I've always figured that chlorine bleach is nothing more than concentrated chlorinated water, and when treated as such is perfectly fine for aquatics use.

Hi Tolak,

I think pretty much the same way. I've been using bleach for quite a while now and never had any problems that could be attributed to it. This includes using it for cleaning rocks, nets, siphon hose, tanks, etc.

I can't say I ever measured it out though. I just fill the sink or a container with water, tip the jug up and let it go "glug" once or twice, just like I do when I use it for household chores. Then I soak the items for "a while." I rinse them well in several changes of water and add a squirt of dechlorinator in the final rinse. After that I let them air dry so that any remaining chlorine will dissipate.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I never considered it to be any big deal. It's just something I've gotten used to doing and have never noticed anything bad happen afterward.

The only time I wished I hadn't used it was when I was redoing a 55 gallon tank and I soaked the fine gravel in it. I rinsed and rinsed, and used an awful lot of dechlorinator, probably more because I was nervous about it than because it needed it. It was not worth the effort to reuse the gravel. I should have either thrown it away or boiled it.

 

[voycey]

General Sanitiser is perfect for cleaning aquarium bits due to disease, its a quaternary biocide but has a very short "life span" once rinsed off. I recommend cleaning the bits and then leaving in tap water overnight to clear any remaining residue off.

 

[Tolak]

Still waiting to hear if anyone has any aquatics related problems from using bleach.

Tolak

 

[soritan]

If you poke around a bit, someone on this forum believes that a 1/20 bleach solution, after being applied to their acrylic aquarium, killed their betta, because it was soaked up and released onto him afterwards. I've forgotten who, but I ran into that thread once or twice in my searches for the 'nuke solution' -- wherein you totally bleach out a tank so as to kill off harmful organisims.

I know. Game of telephone. But that's how these things start.

 

[Inchworm]

If you poke around a bit, someone on this forum believes that a 1/20 bleach solution, after being applied to their acrylic aquarium, killed their betta, because it was soaked up and released onto him afterwards.

I remember seeing that thread too, and I remember thinking how strong that solution was. I have to admit that I was surprised when I saw Tolak was using the same. That's about a cup of bleach to only 5 quarts of water. If you were using warm water, it would eat the grease off the messiest post and pans!

Tolak, is there a reason why you use it so strong for your fish related equipment?

 

[wuvmybetta]

I use bleach all the time, and I'll admit that I'm not so careful that I measure "parts" and I've had no problems whatsoever. When our local betta club hosts shows- we use my small 1 & 2.5 gallon tanks to hold wilds. When I get home with the tanks I bleach the bejeepers out of them before I give them back to their fishy owners. I don't want my kids getting sick!
I fill my tub with hot,hot water, put the tanks in and then just pour the bleach in. Then I soak, scrub, rinse, refill the tub, add salt, rinse, fill the tub again and add a bunch of dechorinator then air dry them. Done and done.
When I put the fish in them, I usually OD the dechlorinator as a precaution.

I've never heard any complaints of people having problems with bleach.

 

[Tolak]

When cleaning equipment, I usually use 5 gallon buckets. They are 15" tall, I toss in 3/8" bleach for half a bucket, or 3/4" for a full bucket. I don't really measure the bleach, just kind of eyeball it, so it is probably closer to a 1 to 15 mix.

My mom used to be a lab tech at a major trauma center for decades. Any cleaning, especially after incidents of spilled body fluids, was cleaned up with a 1:20 mixture of bleach & water. It kept my mom safe from any bacterial or viral pathogens for many years, I figured the same mix should work great for any aquatic nasties.

Tolak