Can I clean a gravel vacuum with soap?

[P&BtheBetta]

Last week my gravel vacuum accidentally fell on the ground (which had some borax on it) and scraped against the container for dishwashing and laundry detergent. I want to wash the stuff off for this week's water change, but I don't think water will be enough. Is it okay to use some dawn hand soap to clean it or would that be toxic to the fish if any residue stayed on the gravel vacuum? Any suggestions?

 

[Byron]

Do not use soap of any kind. A weak bleach solution (with a very thorough several rinses after) might work, or salt, or vinegar (again, rinse very well after)--these if you need to cut through crusted stuff.

 

[P&BtheBetta]

Do not use soap of any kind. A weak bleach solution (with a very thorough several rinses after) might work, or salt, or vinegar (again, rinse very well after)--these if you need to cut through crusted stuff.

I don't think there's anything that won't come off with thorough rinses. It was on the ground for like a couple of seconds and I think it just brushed by everything. Do you think I could use some hot water and rinse it well before using or would that not be enough...?

 

[Colin_T]

You can't use hot water on gravel cleaners because you will melt the gravel cleaner.

You can use soap as long as it's a perfume free soap and does not have any anti-bacterial additives. But rinse well with tap water afterwards

You can rinse it under tap water and put it in a bucket of bleach for 10-15 minutes, then rinse well under tap water again.

 

[AbbeysDad]

Oh boy...I'm going to have to differ from both @Byron and @Colin_T...

I culture Daphnia as a fish food item. Daphnia is very sensitive to water quality and is often used to test waters for purity. I have repeatedly used Dawn dish soap to scrub daphnia bins clean to remove algae. I've also used it to clean empty aquariums - you just need to rinse really well! BTW, do you recall all those commercials where they use Dawn to clean oil soaked foul?

The transitional melt of the plastic used to make gravel vacuums is in the neighborhood of 400°F. (I spent a lifetime in an Extrusion plant). Most hot water out of the tap is around 120°F (here in the US) so you could use hot tap water to rinse, although you don't really need to. The plastic would even hold up in boiling water, but I sure wouldn't bother.
HOWEVER, never use hot tap water on glass aquariums as the glass may very well crack!

 

[Colin_T]

The problem with heating plastics is they often release chemicals when they get hot. So even if they don't melt or distort due to the heat, they could leach chemicals out of the plastic.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

No, don't use soap. Even Dawn soap is unsafe for fish.

I just use hot water. Obviously don't dump boiling water down the tube - use common sense.

 

[noobfish]

Not claiming to know what I'm doing and I'm not advising anyone to do it the way I have, but I've washed most equipment (including tank) with Dawn after purchase. I think the key is thoroughly rinsing, same as it is for bleach, vinegar, etc. All cleaners leave trace amounts of residue, but any amount of cleaner residue left would be so small I can't see it harming the fish. As some of your signatures say, the solution is dilution. Heck, probably 80% of the world's water contains some sort of detergents/waste/petroleums/other nasties, but they are diluted to levels that don't harm the fish (at least most times). Unless you're talking about a carnival fish bowl those trace amount would be diluted to practically nothing.

That said, unless you see something on the syphon that can't be removed by normal means, rinsing under hot tap water and wiping with a paper towel should be fine, IMO.

 

[Byron]

I am not going to push the issue at all, but I would respectfully point out that putting Dawn Soap on the feathers of a bird is a vastly different thing from getting the soap in the tank water and thus inside the fish. Just noting a fact, nothing else.

 

[Slaphppy7]

Two words: white vinegar.

Two more words: rinse well

 

[noobfish]

I am not going to push the issue at all, but I would respectfully point out that putting Dawn Soap on the feathers of a bird is a vastly different thing from getting the soap in the tank water and thus inside the fish. Just noting a fact, nothing else.

Long ago I ingested soap a handful of times, at the insistence of my mother, and I turned out fine

 

[Byron]

Long ago I ingested soap a handful of times, at the insistence of my mother, and I turned out fine

Gotcha! TBut te issue is different with fish. Animals swallowing soap will have a natural reaction in their digestive tract to expel it somehow before it gets into the bloodstream. The issue with fish is that they are continually taking in water via osmosis through every cell, and this water passes directly into the bloodstream and thus the internal organs. The kidneys are intended to filter out salts and substances, and they can easily become damaged. The fish has no control over this. This is why overdosing conditioners, adding too much plant fertilizer, using medications unnecessarily, keeping soft water fish in hard water, etc are all so dangerous.

 

[noobfish]

Gotcha! TBut te issue is different with fish. Animals swallowing soap will have a natural reaction in their digestive tract to expel it somehow before it gets into the bloodstream. The issue with fish is that they are continually taking in water via osmosis through every cell, and this water passes directly into the bloodstream and thus the internal organs. The kidneys are intended to filter out salts and substances, and they can easily become damaged. The fish has no control over this. This is why overdosing conditioners, adding too much plant fertilizer, using medications unnecessarily, keeping soft water fish in hard water, etc are all so dangerous.

Agree and by no means was suggesting intentionally allowing fish to ingest soap or any other cleaner. Bleach is far more harmful to living organisms, yet is sometimes recommended in the industry (i.e. the online plant store I ordered from that included instructions to dip the plants in a bleach solution and rinse prior to tank installation. I did not bleach.) I simply believe that mild detergents can be used if, like the suggestions of bleach or vinegar, you follow the trending recommendations above of rinse, rinse, rinse... then rinse again.

I think we all seem to agree that the safest option is to just clean with warm/hot tap water. And if any other means are used, extreme care and attention should be taken to ensure residue is removed.

(I also agree with your last sentence. Learning from you and others I now stick to just conditioner and allowable dosage of fertilizer, accepting and working with my water params instead of trying to change them )

 

[AbbeysDad]

The problem with heating plastics is they often release chemicals when they get hot. So even if they don't melt or distort due to the heat, they could leach chemicals out of the plastic.

Ah but in your previous post I'm pretty sure you claimed that hot water would melt the gravel vac. And even if hot water was to leach anything, it would likely be rinsed away.

I am not going to push the issue at all, but I would respectfully point out that putting Dawn Soap on the feathers of a bird is a vastly different thing from getting the soap in the tank water and thus inside the fish. Just noting a fact, nothing else.

I'm not really wishing to beat a dead horse so he'll go faster, but the no soap for aquariums is such an old myth...or maybe just a cautionary tale so a challenged and foolish hobbyist newbie doesn't dump dish soap in his aquarium to give his fish a bath?
The point I was making is that soap, at least Dawn dish soap, rinses clean. I've proven it to myself over and over again. I even once used Barkeeper's Friend on an empty tank with dried on scale. You just have to thoroughly rinse. And of course you never want soap near an aquarium with water and fish.
Surely you wash your clothes and dishes with soap and things get clean and the soap comes out....right?
Okay, enough of this, lets maybe just move on?

 

[Colin_T]

Long ago I ingested soap a handful of times, at the insistence of my mother, and I turned out fine

LOL, did you swear a lot as a kid too?

My folks used to wash my mouth out with soap all the time. They gave up when I started eating it.