How To Sterilize + reseed any tank

[Humblefish]

Any changes you'd suggest? I'm not married to using bleach. If I can lower the concentration, that would be great too. I have 3 sets of QT equipment, but want to avoid missing a transfer using longer methods.

The only other option would be to disinfect using vinegar or citric acid, but then you have to allow everything to completely air dry in order to sterilize. I personally prefer this approach, and use fans blowing over tank + equipment to aid with drying time.

 

[Warfielder]

The only other option would be to disinfect using vinegar or citric acid, but then you have to allow everything to completely air dry in order to sterilize. I personally prefer this approach, and use fans blowing over tank + equipment to aid with drying time.

So substituting vinegar in the wipe-down method, would that still be at a 10:1 water:vinegar concentration?

Do required contact times go up at all with use of vinegar as opposed to bleach?

It seems both bleach and vinegar rely on complete drying (detoxification and sanitization respectively). Is one or the other more foolproof or why do you prefer vinegar? I'm open to switching.

Trying to cover everything as my last QT was unsuccessful, although I do not think it was chlorine at play.

Thanks!

 

[Humblefish]

So substituting vinegar in the wipe-down method, would that still be at a 10:1 water:vinegar concentration?

Yes

Do required contact times go up at all with use of vinegar as opposed to bleach?

No

It seems both bleach and vinegar rely on complete drying (detoxification and sanitization respectively). Is one or the other more foolproof or why do you prefer vinegar? I'm open to switching.

That's exactly it. The air drying is the sterilization process when using vinegar, or detoxification process when using bleach.

I would say using bleach is probably more foolproof because that kills on contact, but I personally have never had any pathogens survive vinegar + 100% drying. <<-- That last part is very important.

P.S. Be sure no biofilm remains anywhere on the glass + equipment no matter which method you use. If you can feel biofilm, use rubbing alcohol to remove it.

 

[Dierks]

Any issues with tank seals or damaging equipment, pumps, etc. @ 400ppm for 24 hours?

Not yet....

 

[Sanisan_x]

Hi, we've got a 255L tank we needed to sterilize due to Uronema.

We've drained and refilled with fresh water and dosed the reccomended amount of bleach based on the calculator on the first page. 4% at 100ppm.

We're now circulating the bleach water through the tank for the next 24 hours. Will scrub the walls for biofilm etc to ensure its a clean as possible.

Can someone please just confirm for me the final steps? Just dose chlor out and wait for it to balance? Drain again and Wipeout and refill?

Sorry, super new to the hobby and of course this happens after we introduce the first fish!

 

[gp!]

Hi, we've got a 255L tank we needed to sterilize due to Uronema.

We've drained and refilled with fresh water and dosed the reccomended amount of bleach based on the calculator on the first page. 4% at 100ppm.

We're now circulating the bleach water through the tank for the next 24 hours. Will scrub the walls for biofilm etc to ensure its a clean as possible.

Can someone please just confirm for me the final steps? Just dose chlor out and wait for it to balance? Drain again and Wipeout and refill?

Sorry, super new to the hobby and of course this happens after we introduce the first fish!

Next time bleach, then neutralize, then drain, then dry.

This time, neutralize - drain - dry - refill

 

[Sanisan_x]

Thank you so much!

 

[Cono]

hi i am a little on the slow side (lol). i have a 180 gallon tank and lost all of 8 fish. I would like to ask can i do this process to rid of any kind of disease or parasites in the tank. meaning if i put the chlorine in the tank to sterilize would i have to drain it and start over?

 

[Dierks]

hi i am a little on the slow side (lol). i have a 180 gallon tank and lost all of 8 fish. I would like to ask can i do this process to rid of any kind of disease or parasites in the tank. meaning if i put the chlorine in the tank to sterilize would i have to drain it and start over?

Yes, Bleach will wipe out any living organism in the tank including disease. I suggest running the Bleach for 24 hours at 200+ ppm

 

[Cono]

But do I have to drain the tank ? And what about the substrate and the rock

 

[Vincelovesfish]

But do I have to drain the tank ? And what about the substrate and the rock

Technically you don’t have to drain but you would need to buffer the ph back up and dechlorinate the water. Chlorine oxidizes off pretty quickly too. It’s just good to drain and rinse to do a deep clean while you’re at it. I have done both ways and it has been fine. There will be a lot of dead organics and so the rinse will help clear a lot of that up.

 

[Cono]

is there any videos that could walk me through

 

[Dierks]

is there any videos that could walk me through

I dont think there are.. This would be a good video for @Humblefish to do when he returns.

 

[ryanuy]

Hi! Can i use sodium bisulphate instead of sodium thiosulphate to clear out the chlorine?

 

[Humblefish]

Hi! Can i use sodium bisulphate instead of sodium thiosulphate to clear out the chlorine?

I'm not a chemist, but I don't think that will work. Sodium thiosulfate is an inorganic compound, whereas sodium bisulfate (also known as sodium hydrogen sulfate) is an acid salt formed by partial neutralization of sulfuric acid by an equivalent of sodium base. They just sound similar in nature.

 

[Humblefish]

@ryanuy I don't have time to read this whole thing, but it seems like sodium bisulfite might be able to neutralize chlorine: https://dnr.wi.gov/regulations/opcert/documents/StudyGuideDisinfection.pdf

I also found a dosing calculator for it (attached). But sodium bisulfite converting chlorine to sodium bisulfate + hydrochloric acid is off-putting.

 

[ls7corvete]

So after losing my fish to disease See here I decided to attempt to sterilize my main tank (50g with sump) and re-seed it. Though now I am worried I messed up the bleach dose, a couple mushrooms and snails survived. I used a cup and a half of bleach. Now I am worried I under dosed. What are the odds that disease survived this dose? I do have another tank (dry now). The remainder of my coral and inverts are in QT, getting fallow and eventually treatment with metro in case of uronema.

 

[Vincelovesfish]

So after losing my fish to disease See here I decided to attempt to sterilize my main tank (50g with sump) and re-seed it. Though now I am worried I messed up the bleach dose, a couple mushrooms and snails survived. I used a cup and a half of bleach. Now I am worried I under dosed. What are the odds that disease survived this dose? I do have another tank (dry now). The remainder of my coral and inverts are in QT, getting fallow and eventually treatment with metro in case of uronema.

What concentration of sodium hypochlorite bleach did you use and how much did you dose?

 

[ls7corvete]

What concentration of sodium hypochlorite bleach did you use and how much did you dose?

"Regular" which according to a quick web search, is 5.25%. Looking at the numbers again, I (probably) should have used 2 cups to account for the sump. Though I doubt that would make a huge difference. I am hoping that microscopic/unicellular organisms are more sensitive to bleach.

 

[Humblefish]

"Regular" which according to a quick web search, is 5.25%. Looking at the numbers again, I (probably) should have used 2 cups to account for the sump. Though I doubt that would make a huge difference. I am hoping that microscopic/unicellular organisms are more sensitive to bleach.

I would circulate at least 100ppm through the entire system for 48 hours. How many gallons is your sump? Because according to this chart 1.5 cup of 5.25% should have been adequate for 50 gallons of water: https://dec.vermont.gov/sites/dec/files/dwgwp/DW/chlorinedosageemergencydisinfection.pdf