Can bleach residue ruin my cycle?

[sean rand]

Hi I am cycling a 150 gallon tank with my old rock that I bleached. I bleached the rocks for 2 days in 10% bleach 90% water and then rinsed with freshwater for a couple of hours after that I used prime to stabilize any leftover bleach. I let the rocks dry for 3 days before adding them in. The problem was that the rocks still have a bleach smell. I used a half a bottle of prime after adding the rock to the main tank because of the bleach smell. I am cycling with read see reef nature and it's taking way longer to cycle then they say. Is it possible there was bleach left over in the rocks and that's the reason why the it's taking longer for the cycle to finish?

 

[An Dang]

Hello,

The rocks are so porous that you probably never be able to completely get rid of the bleach. I would definitely throw out the rocks, sands if any. As for your 150gal tank, the silicone seams probably have bleach in them. Bleaching the rocks is not ideal in my opinion, good luck.

 

[sean rand]

Hello,

The rocks are so porous that you probably never be able to completely get rid of the bleach. I would definitely throw out the rocks, sands if any. As for your 150gal tank, the silicone seams probably have bleach in them. Bleaching the rocks is not ideal in my opinion, good luck.

Thanks for your response, I have alot of friends that had great success bleaching there rocks. Throwing out the rocks is not a option for me. I put in 100lbs of new live sand. I dont understand what you mean about the silicone.

 

[shred5]

Hi I am cycling a 150 gallon tank with my old rock that I bleached. I bleached the rocks for 2 days in 10% bleach 90% water and then rinsed with freshwater for a couple of hours after that I used prime to stabilize any leftover bleach. I let the rocks dry for 3 days before adding them in. The problem was that the rocks still have a bleach smell. I used a half a bottle of prime after adding the rock to the main tank because of the bleach smell. I am cycling with read see reef nature and it's taking way longer to cycle then they say. Is it possible there was bleach left over in the rocks and that's the reason why the it's taking longer for the cycle to finish?

Bleach disappears very fast with air or anything it reacts with..
Question is did you use pure bleach? I know there is bleach that has thickeners or different scents and that stuff is no good.
I bleach rock all the time.. People have been using bleach on grow out tanks or larvae tanks to sanitize them for ever. I use it on my breeding tanks all the time or my quarantine tanks.

 

[Geebs19]

You do not need to throw them out. Did the rocks still smell like bleach after they were dry?

 

[sean rand]

Bleach disappears very fast with air or anything it reacts with..
Question is did you use pure bleach? I know there is bleach that has thickeners or different scents and that stuff is no good.
I bleach rock all the time.. People have been using bleach on grow out tanks to sanitize them for ever.

I used plain Clorox bleach with no scent.

 

[WVNed]

I would make sure the water is being stirred and run a skimmer if you have it and reapply the bacterials after 2 or 3 days.

 

[sean rand]

You do not need to throw them out. Did the rocks still smell like bleach after they were dry?

Very faint smell

 

[sean rand]

You do not need to throw them out. Did the rocks still smell like bleach after they were dry?

Thanks! Wouldn't prime take care of the leftover bleach?

 

[Geebs19]

Thanks! Wouldn't prime take care of the leftover bleach?

May not have pulled all of it, if there was a faint smell it means where was probably still some on the rocks. As stated above I would make sure the water is moving and skimmer running. Redose after a few days.

 

[sean rand]

May not have pulled all of it, if there was a faint smell it means where was probably still some on the rocks. As stated above I would make sure the water is moving and skimmer running. Redose after a few days.

I added in this order, water, rocks, 1/2 prime, sand and I am using 3 mp40 for flow now. (Overkil I know, but just in the beginning) and then started to add the red see reef mature cycle.

 

[TriggerFinger]

I bleached around 80lbs of previously live rock. I used quite a bit of prime and let them dry in the summer sun for a couple months before starting to cycle my rocks. I didn’t have any hint of bleach smell after they were dry. I still used prime in the cycle water just in case.