Can I bleach my entire tank?

[rennjidk]

I can honestly say I’ve never tried to clean a bathroom with <300 ppm chlorine. I have cleaned it with >500ppm over a lot more surface area.

It's not the concentration, it's the amount. By that logic, a single spray of air freshener will have the same effect as emptying the entire can in a room, because they're the same concentration. And I very seriously doubt you're using 7g of bleach at a time to clean with, regardless of what it's diluted to, so I really don't understand what your goal is here?

 

[The_Paradox]

It's not the concentration, it's the amount.

Then today a billion children are going to die at pools. I cry for them.

 

[jeeper07]

If it is palytoxin or a toxin from algae how long can it continue to leach out of the rock? So far I’ve drained all the water and refilled with tap water and running carbon. I plan on doing daily 50% water changes for a few days. Think this will be enough?

 

[Dom]

whether or not OP had Palytoxin exposure is tough to determine but i can understand a person preferring to be safe rather that sorry.
My LFS has an employee that has worked there for over 10 years and has extreme sensitivity to handling paly's & zoas without ppe. He breaks out in hives regardless of which type and simply from transferring a frag plug and just making contact with the coral.

To me, that sounds more like an allergic reaction, rather than a paly toxin exposure.

 

[Dom]

It's not the concentration, it's the amount.

In my mind, these two are dependent upon each other. Your concentration in the water depends on the amount of ammonia you add.

 

[rennjidk]

Then today a billion children are going to die at pools. I cry for them.

It's funny you should say that, because you're telling them to put the equivalent of an Olympic sized swimming pools worth of bleach into an aquarium sitting in their house. At some point common sense has to kick in and say "Maybe this might be dangerous?" To each their own I guess.

 

[rennjidk]

If it is palytoxin or a toxin from algae how long can it continue to leach out of the rock? So far I’ve drained all the water and refilled with tap water and running carbon. I plan on doing daily 50% water changes for a few days. Think this will be enough?

Leeching isnt a real concern. And yes, that sound like a fine plan.

 

[landlubber]

To me, that sounds more like an allergic reaction, rather than a paly toxin exposure.

Possibly? Maybe not? I don't work in marine biology nor am i a toxicologist.
Realistically the overarching message here is OP is suffering an issue which needs to be handled so he can safely enjoy the hobby

 

[Cell]

From what I understand, bleach needs to dry in order to not remain effective. Cleaning of figurines, plastic plants, filter socks etc. Your live rock is quite porous, there in is the problem. Good luck. Definitely following.

Diluted bleach isn't stable. It's going to break down after a day or two on its own without having to dry out.

 

[The_Paradox]

It's funny you should say that, because you're telling them to put the equivalent of an Olympic sized swimming pools worth of bleach into an aquarium sitting in their house. At some point common sense has to kick in and say "Maybe this might be dangerous?" To each their own I guess.

All I got from that was you don’t own a pool. I’ll put my 20+ years as chem-bio officer/NDMS employee running decon corridors with hundreds of gallons of chlorine, quats, and various other agents in open catch basins agains your “common sense”.

 

[jeeper07]

Leeching isnt a real concern. And yes, that sound like a fine plan.

So if leaching isn’t a problem then how did the toxin become airborne in the first place? Just trying to understand

 

[The_Paradox]

So if leaching isn’t a problem then how did the toxin become airborne in the first place? Just trying to understand

The wild card here is if your dog and others truly got sick. Not naïve enough to say there is no way possible but would be highly unusual. No matter what it was, with an N of 1 definitive conclusions can be drawn. You had this tank before. Did this ever happen before or when you tore it down?

 

[Reefer Matt]

What is the goal of the bleach here? Is it to hopefully counter a suspected toxin, or to just sterilize the tank? I think @Randy Holmes-Farley would be the best expert to give advice on this.

 

[KStatefan]

Depends on contact time. I would do 1oz/g for one hour if you really want to feel good about it.

That is close to what I am going to do 100:1 ratio on my tank when I get thing transferred to a temporary tank. Then fill with tap water and circulate for a day rinse and repeat.

 

[jeeper07]

The wild card here is if your dog and others truly got sick. Not naïve enough to say there is no way possible but would be highly unusual. No matter what it was, with an N of 1 definitive conclusions can be drawn. You had this tank before. Did this ever happen before or when you tore it down?

Dogs definitely got sick. The day after the tank was running we left for a night to take the kids to an indoor water park. The next day we came back and they were all gagging and coughing. When I tore down the original tank I didn’t have any problems but everything was alive then. I sadly lost the majority of the coral within the first few months of removing them from the tank. Everything sat in the trough in the basement for months before I was able to set it up again. Several rocks with Paul’s / Zoas died off in this process. I’ve had reef tanks in the past. Been through several Dino outbreaks and cyno. Never had issues until now

 

[jeeper07]

What is the goal of the bleach here? Is it to hopefully counter a suspected toxin, or to just sterilize the tank? I think @Randy Holmes-Farley would be the best expert to give advice on this.

The goal would be to remove any remaining toxins. But I think I’m going to stay away from bleaching. Seems like it could cause more off gassing. I think I will stick to tap water changes and carbon for a couple weeks

 

[edd59]

bleech is only 7% active ingredient and it disipates very quickly.
i brought my pool up off the charts on my chlorine checker with liquid pool chlorine whitch is 12% active ingredient in the morning, by 3 pm chlorine was 0

 

[jeeper07]

Does anyone have an idea how long it will take to remove whatever it is that’s causing the irritation by using carbon and doing freshwater water changes?

 

[landlubber]

Does anyone have an idea how long it will take to remove whatever it is that’s causing the irritation by using carbon and doing freshwater water changes?

i can't really imagine a way to tell.
Fortunately GAC isn't terribly expensive and does a pretty terrific job at pulling things from the water. It'd be worth a shot imo

 

[jeeper07]

i can't really imagine a way to tell.
Fortunately GAC isn't terribly expensive and does a pretty terrific job at pulling things from the water. It'd be worth a shot imo

Sorry GAC?