disinfecting

[cschum00]

I know there was a post somewhere here about disinfecting. But I can't seem to find it. Was wondering about bleach?? Of course it would be well rinsed and then treated with a declorinator. I'm needing to disinfect a 2 1/ 2 gallon tank and also my gravel vac, as some of you already know has been used in a tank with ich and internal parasites. thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[rdd1952]

Here is a thread from a couple months ago. The last post has a good step by step disinfecting description.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...72606&hl=bleach

 

[cschum00]

thanks rrd. Thats the one I was looking for.

 

[BettaMomma]

I just sanitized my 2.5G tank a few weeks ago.
Here is what I did, in a nutshell.
I think it's similar to what is on that post above, but it's short and sweet.

I used a solo cup - I dumped in 20 glasses full of scalding hot water, then 1 glass full of clorox.
Let it set for 30 minutes.
Dumped it out.
Rinsed it really well in the sink w/scalding water.
Squirted dechlorinator all over it.
Rinsed it again.
Turned on the shower as hot as it would go.
Set the tank in the shower and let the hot water run over it for about 35 minutes.

It worked like a charm!

As for your gravel vac, I would not use bleach on it because it is made of plastic and can absorb the bleach, then release it later whcih could be disastrous. If you're really concerned about it, you can soak it in hot REALLY REALLY salty water - that should help. Or just pick up a new one. they're not too terribly expensive.

 

[rdd1952]

If you have a bottle brush, you can probably scrub the gravel vac real good. Just don't let it soak as the plastic/acrylic probably will absord some of the bleach. You could probably use ammonia it too. Ammonia will dull the clearness of acrylic so you can't use it on acrylic tanks but it shouldn't be a problem on the vac. WORD OF WARNING: DO NOT MIX AMMONIA AND BLEACH. They create a deadly toxin when mixed.