Bleach Dosing?

cacas · 2026-08-02T21:22:21-0400

Hi everyone. Recently I met up with a pretty 'unique' reefer in my area. I won't say I agree with all his methods, but his tank does look stunning. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures

.

Anyways, one thing that he did is doses chlorine bleach!?!?!!?! I was taken aback. I honestly thought that he was joking with me but he actually did.

Apparently he dosed a "drop" (however much that is

) of bleach per 15 gallons. He seemed quite convinced that this was a key factor in his success.

I am strongly skeptical that this is having a beneficial effect in his tank, and definitely do NOT agree with that practice. Anyone have thoughts/input on this? Is this actually a real technique/method? I would be surprised if it is.

Reef Jedi · 2026-08-02T21:38:47-0400

Being as it’s highly toxic to livestock I have no idea…..

BriDroid · 2026-08-02T21:41:29-0400

I’ve heard of some people doing it before, but it seems very risky! I also can’t find much info online about it, just mentions of it here and there.

Fish Fan · 2026-08-02T22:05:21-0400

I'm intrigued, a little.

I don't care for this dosing of hydrogen peroxide in a display tank (in a QT tank, maybe). Hydrogen peroxide is an indiscriminate oxidiser that works on anything organic, good or bad.

Now, you're talking about sodium hydroxide (bleach) which is a far more powerful oxidiser. I can't see how dosing this is beneficial, but, for the sake of argument, perhaps this is running the fine line between beneficial and detrimental

I will say that in the world of undergraduate bio and chem labs, it's often suggested that one 'drop' from an eye dropper of an aqueous (water based) solution is approximately 1 mL. Therefore, you could say that the dose is 1 mL/15 gallons of water. To me, that doesn't sound like enough to do anything, good or bad, but the hydrogen peroxide people swear by their very low doses, so I don't know.

@Randy Holmes-Farley do you have a minute to offer some insight here please?