Just wanted to share my experience/tips using bleach to reset my tank to day one. The reason was that I got infected with a red turf algae that I couldn’t beat. I didn’t have many frags yet in a year old tank. I decided I’d rather take a mulligan instead of battling if forever. Removing my aquascape wasn't really an option. I did a good bit of research on bleach and how to neutralize it. I found some anecdotal advice on the forums that didn’t make sense to me, especially letting the rock dry after bleaching. I’ll add my thoughts on that at the end of the post if you want to skip ahead.
Here are the basics of what I did:
Siphon as much sand as possible into 32 gallon Brute trash can, fill the brute with tank water. Move the fish into the “Brute Motel” with a heater, air stone, and canister filter.
Scrub off as much RTA as possible (small wire brush), drain the rest of the tank and sump. Remove remaining sand. Clean wave pumps in DT. Remove all equipment from sump except return pump (skimmer, CaReactor, etc..).
Fill system with tap water. Replace wave pumps. Turn them and return pump on.
Add 3 gallons of bleach to system (120 gallons total DT and Sump). After a couple hours my rock was completely white. I gave it about 6 hours for good measure (my house smelled like a pool ).
Drain bleach water. I kept the last couple 5 gallon buckets to soak and sterilize other equipment.
Rinse rock/tank walls with tap water (via garden hose and sprayer). Do this a couple times with maybe 5 gallons each time, removing water after each rinse.
Fill system with tap water and turn on pumps. Add a powerful de-chlorination agent. I did a good bit of research on this and found Seachem Prime to be a good affordable and easy option. I added an 8.5oz bottle over a period of about 8 hours. Just a good pour every hour. This should treat 10,000 gallons of ‘normal tap water’.
While doing the de-chlorination I rinsed my new sand with tap water. Also sterilized/rinsed all equipment and tools with the bleach water in the buckets I saved.
Drain the tank again after a day. Add new sand, replace sterilized equipment and fill with RODI salt water. Get to temp and move fish back in.
I have 7 fish in this system and I would never recommend just adding 7 fish to a sterile un-cycled tank but I didn’t really have a choice here. I did add a dose of MB7 every other day, closely monitored Ammonia, fed lightly, and was prepared for a large water change if needed (It wasn’t). The tank has been back up for over a month now. Fish are fine, waste is being converted to nitrate.
This was a 3-4 day process, but it wiped out all my Red Turf Algae! Also my coralline, etc.. but I expected that. I will never not quarantine again, lesson learned.
My thoughts on de-chlorination of rock. I couldn’t find a scientific reason to let the rock dry in the sun as is recommended in many places. The chlorine is not volatile, it will not evaporate. Just like trying to remove salt from your tank by letting the water evaporate. The dried chlorine can get blown away like dust and it can also be neutralized by atmospheric CO2, but this isn’t quick. UV light (sunlight) can also break it down. These options are unlikely to reach all surfaces inside the rock. Sunlight and wind are not getting everywhere. Atmospheric CO2 will, but that’s slow. The only realistic option to me is something in the water that neutralizes it quickly and can reach everywhere. Like sodium thiosulfate, which is basically Seachem Prime (but pre-dissolved).
It’s only one data point, but my 7 fish survived in this method with no adverse effects. I didn’t do a water change for 2 weeks until I started to see an ammonia spike. I would think if chlorine was there they would have shown symptoms quickly.
Sorry for the long novel, but if someone is looking to do a reset like this I wanted to share enough to help them think through a process that works for them.
Here are the basics of what I did:
Siphon as much sand as possible into 32 gallon Brute trash can, fill the brute with tank water. Move the fish into the “Brute Motel” with a heater, air stone, and canister filter.
Scrub off as much RTA as possible (small wire brush), drain the rest of the tank and sump. Remove remaining sand. Clean wave pumps in DT. Remove all equipment from sump except return pump (skimmer, CaReactor, etc..).
Fill system with tap water. Replace wave pumps. Turn them and return pump on.
Add 3 gallons of bleach to system (120 gallons total DT and Sump). After a couple hours my rock was completely white. I gave it about 6 hours for good measure (my house smelled like a pool ).
Drain bleach water. I kept the last couple 5 gallon buckets to soak and sterilize other equipment.
Rinse rock/tank walls with tap water (via garden hose and sprayer). Do this a couple times with maybe 5 gallons each time, removing water after each rinse.
Fill system with tap water and turn on pumps. Add a powerful de-chlorination agent. I did a good bit of research on this and found Seachem Prime to be a good affordable and easy option. I added an 8.5oz bottle over a period of about 8 hours. Just a good pour every hour. This should treat 10,000 gallons of ‘normal tap water’.
While doing the de-chlorination I rinsed my new sand with tap water. Also sterilized/rinsed all equipment and tools with the bleach water in the buckets I saved.
Drain the tank again after a day. Add new sand, replace sterilized equipment and fill with RODI salt water. Get to temp and move fish back in.
I have 7 fish in this system and I would never recommend just adding 7 fish to a sterile un-cycled tank but I didn’t really have a choice here. I did add a dose of MB7 every other day, closely monitored Ammonia, fed lightly, and was prepared for a large water change if needed (It wasn’t). The tank has been back up for over a month now. Fish are fine, waste is being converted to nitrate.
This was a 3-4 day process, but it wiped out all my Red Turf Algae! Also my coralline, etc.. but I expected that. I will never not quarantine again, lesson learned.
My thoughts on de-chlorination of rock. I couldn’t find a scientific reason to let the rock dry in the sun as is recommended in many places. The chlorine is not volatile, it will not evaporate. Just like trying to remove salt from your tank by letting the water evaporate. The dried chlorine can get blown away like dust and it can also be neutralized by atmospheric CO2, but this isn’t quick. UV light (sunlight) can also break it down. These options are unlikely to reach all surfaces inside the rock. Sunlight and wind are not getting everywhere. Atmospheric CO2 will, but that’s slow. The only realistic option to me is something in the water that neutralizes it quickly and can reach everywhere. Like sodium thiosulfate, which is basically Seachem Prime (but pre-dissolved).
It’s only one data point, but my 7 fish survived in this method with no adverse effects. I didn’t do a water change for 2 weeks until I started to see an ammonia spike. I would think if chlorine was there they would have shown symptoms quickly.
Sorry for the long novel, but if someone is looking to do a reset like this I wanted to share enough to help them think through a process that works for them.
. Hopefully it never comes to that because I quarantine everything now (well I got one frag from a friend that I didn't but I trust his tank). I suppose the RTA beast could be dormant for a month of QT with low nutrients. If I found a spot of RTA on my 100lb monolithic structure of arches I would do this. Since it's hypothetical I assume it would favor the upper parts of the rock with high light as it did before. So if it started there I would probably drain the tank enough to expose it to air. Treat is with Peroxide and/or a Kalc paste. Then put the same water back. Repeat that as needed.
