Using bleach to clean filters????

[Paul B]

Rocky Heap, I use bleach for many things. I also keep a squeeze bottle of it next to my skimmer and I add some of it to the collection cup every week. I use ozone too in the skimmer which works on the water almost exactly like bleach
As for cleaning the glass with copper, I never did that but there was copper in my tank in the seventees for many years continousely , then it evolved into a reef which is now 34 years old. Those copper treated rocks and all of the gravel is still in there. Maybe thats why there are no bugs on my glass. :lol:

Paul

 

[Paul B]

Andrew, You live in the Bahamas, just scoop up the water and dump it in your tank. I usually just do that in New York and I take the water right near the city, New York City
I can't believe people from the tropics will not use NSW. If you are worried about paracites or disease add one tablespoon of "Regular Clorox" to 5 gallons of water. Wait a week and neutrilize with any chlorine eliminator sold in any pet shop, double the dosage.
I did not invent this is was Robert Straughn, (The Father of Salt Water Fish Keeping)
Paul

 

[spongebob lover]

wwouu doods and i thought bleach was only for my white clothes and the bathroom... guess i was wrong .

 

[Krish]

I can't believe people from the tropics will not use NSW.

...Neva!!!

 

[Boomer]

Bleach !! Yah, I was big on bleach. I cleaned just about every thing with bleach, ie, dead "bleached" corals, tubing, canisters, skimmers, reactors, gravel.......ect..........etc. There is nothing wrong with it as long as you follow two saftey procedures ( Ok, my safety procedures). 1. Spray bleach onto "objects with spray bottle ( Bath tub is a great place). Good to have window open with fan or you are in trouble from the chlorine gas getting in your eyes). Rinse all "objects" in hot water thoroughly. A shower head works great in bath tub. 2. Put objects in bucket and triple dose the dechlor and let set for 15 minutes - 30 min ( make sure it is mixed first). Rinse off again and your are good to go. And yes I used FULL strength bleach. I do so for over 30 years

 

[sparky52]

edited by sparky

 

[liveforphysics]

Imposter of what?

And, umm, just so you know, the electrolisis of salt water is to MAKE the NaOH which the chlorine is bubbled through to make bleach. Not that it matters anyways...

 

[Boomer]

Lets try my turn

It depends, safe or not so safe or is it deal or no deal :lol:

http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node=bleach

and are also made by bubbling chlorine gas through a solution of calcium hydroxide (kalk).

 

[liveforphysics]

This is from Clorox.com

http://web.archive.org/web/20020203035031/http://www.clorox.com/science/rmp/bcycle.html



1.
The bleach cycle starts with salt water, which is broken down by electric current into sodium hydroxide, hydrogen and chlorine.
2.
The sodium hydroxide is mixed with water. Next, chlorine is added to form sodium hypochlorite, the active ingredient in liquid bleach. The bleach is bottled and shipped to retailers.
3.
Consumers use bleach in washing machines or on household surfaces. As bleach reacts with stains and soils, it begins to break down. The cleaning process turns nearly all of the bleach back into salt water.

So, step 1 makes NaOH, they use electrolisis to make it. Step 2 adds Clorine. At this point you have bleach. In step 3 is used for something, in an aquairum it would have limitless organics to bond with. The byproducts are harmless.

Sparky52- Please tell me why you call me an imposter? And perhaps what I am impersonateing? Im sorry if something I wrote offends you, if you have a specific problem with something perhaps you could bring it up in a PM with me.

 

[RockyHeap]

next thing you know, people will be boiling live rock to rid it of anything they consider "bad".........

 

[NaH2O]

Just a note - lets keep any name calling or flame throwing off the threads. Disagreements are fine, just provide some information to support your point, or ask questions to clarify other's points or get more information on what has been said.

next thing you know, people will be boiling live rock to rid it of anything they consider "bad".........

I've done it....

 

[ethanriley]

Paul,

Thanks for the feedback I am now using NSW exclusivley much cheaper for me. I have had some hair algae blooms subsequently (though I dont think the two are related. One of my chitons died in the fuge I think had more to do with it plus we had an early heat spell which bleached several of my corals "no pun intended" but overall I am very happy with the NSW just that I read on this thread that adding bleach might elminate some algae before I put it in the tank. Thanks for the heads-up.

 

[Paul B]

OK I hate to say this but I did boil all my "live rock" when I collected it after (or maybe before) I bleached it. I just needed rock because in the seventees we had no reef tanks. I needed to get all that stuff we want now out of the pores.
If I only knew then what I know now.
Paul

 

[RockyHeap]

I use a mix of seasoning salt and shrimp boil zest when I boil my rock, spices up the mix a little bit, and tastes yummy for the peel and eat shrimp. Cajun gulf of mexico rock has more flavor than carribbean rock. Fiji or Tonga branch being more open pores takes the flavor more.

Thanks for your thoughts Nikki.

 

[MikeS]

Just a note - lets keep any name calling or flame throwing off the threads. Disagreements are fine, just provide some information to support your point, or ask questions to clarify other's points or get more information on what has been said.



I've done it....

Agreed...keep it nice...if you have something to say, then say it, but let's do this in a nice civil manner without taking stabs, and if you have an alternate veiwpoint, please be prepared to do so in a constructive manner.

MikeS

 

[sarmo]

be nice, all i asked was was it safe to clean filters with bleach..... sounds like we all need to have a dip in it to cure all evils.....
hey, thanks everyone for the advice. it great to hear it from someone who has done it before.

 

[fishcrazee]

When I worked in the pet store as a teenager, we always cleaned the tank aparatus with a bleach water solution, worked like a charm! We rinsed everything really well before putting back into the tank and we had no problems. I've used tapwater to cure LR before and that has a small amount of chlorine in it too, but I add Stresscoat or another chlorine neutralizer to the water and no problem

 

[MikeS]

I used bleach plenty of times in my FO days to clean rock and coral skeletons...I always rinsed it in hot water and soaked in fresh water overnight before returning the cleaned piece to the tank...I never had any adverse effects...

If your desire is to kill bacteria and/or undesireables in the filter, than yes, bleach is ok and safe, if you are not worried about them, than it's ok to skip it as well...

MikeS