Sanitizing/Sterilizing a tank

[BettaMomma]

Okay, so...
I had a thought today.
I have done my homework and research on sterilizing the tank that Amos was in - I want to make it a home for his successor (haven't yet picked one out) but I had a question, and it may be dumb, but I wanted to see if anyone else thought it might work.

When you use bleach to sterilize a tank, would it make sense (once it's been thoroughly cleaned and rinsed) to squirt dechlorinator all over the tank where you used bleach (and then rinse, of course) to get rid of the possibility that the bleach could seep into the new water??

Or is that really dumb?

 

[Tolak]

I use a version of that idea. First I fill with bleach & water and let it sit for a day. I drain the bleach water & just fill with water that has double or triple the dechlor.
let it run with an airstone for a day to circulate, drain & fill again with fresh water. Run for a few hours with airstone, drain, & let it sit until I need it, or fill it up & use it.

Tolak

 

[BettaMomma]

and here I thought that that was way too good of an idea for me to think of all by myself. Great! When the time comes for me to get someone else for that tank I'll give this a try.

 

[patagonia]

well...i just did the same thing about a month ago...i had a red cap oranda who died of ich in my tank ...quarrantine tank that is...so after that incident i needed to sterilize the tank again to make sure the next fish wont get ich as well...so i prepared a 5% bleach solution...(1 part of bleach, 19 parts of water...) emptyed the tank and filled it up with the solution and put everything apart and in the tank...let it soak for 10 minutes and then threw that solution away and let it rinse in running tap water for a while...then i added the dechlorinator and then kept rinsing and rinsing and rinsing...the only thing i had to replace was the bio wheel...bought a new one for a couple of dollars...other than that...ive had 2 platies in that very same tank for 3 weeks now with no problem...i dont think theres much of a point of letting everything soak for hours in bleach...im a lab technician myself and i deal with blood samples everyday and bleach looses its disinfecting ability after about 1/2 an hour of being prepared....but...if u wanna let it soak overnight to make sure i dont think that would cause any harm...good luck!

 

[rdd1952]

I was searching for info on the same thing yesterday so i could clean one of my tanks. Here is a link to a past post on this forum that the very last post has complete info on cleaning with bleach.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=72606&hl=

 

[Tolak]

I usually let it run for a day because I do my tank maintainance for the most part on the weekend. Once I start I do them all. Once I'm done I kick back 'till tomorrow. Let it run, tomorrow is another day.

My Mom is a retired lab tech, nearly 40 years spent at a trauma center, plenty of it in blood bank. It's a good field, and most larger medical facilities have great investment & retirement plans. When she tells me bleach will kill it, I listen!

Tolak