Can I bleach my entire tank?

[jeeper07]

So I believe I had a bout with palytoxin that I described in another thread. The tank is 800 gallons and I used 4 tubs of reef mortar so removing the rock would be a total pain. My question is this. Can I bleach the entire tank rock and sand included? I want to make sure the palytoxin is for sure gone. I read about people bleaching rock all the time but never inside the tank. This is a fresh start up, no fish or anything is in the tank, just live rock. Some of the live rock contained paly’s and zoas that died off months ago in a holding tank, and when I transferred them into the display during the aquascape process is when I believe it got released during start up from the aeration of the return pumps. Please let me know

 

[The_Paradox]

You can bleach it if you want. Drain and fill should suffice though unless you’re highly sensitive.

 

[tzabor10]

This sounds like a bad idea. You might want to consider a carbon reactor.

 

[jeeper07]

This sounds like a bad idea. You might want to consider a carbon reactor.

I did that, I also have since drained the tank and filled with just tap water

 

[brandon429]

you didn't have a palytoxin episode, that's mass hysteria started by some news reports a few years ago that were never confirmed or followed up on. no deceased parties had their fluids chromatographed and confirmed as a palytoxin kill, there's just news articles, the ones who benefit from clicks on appealing headlines.

 

[jeeper07]

You can bleach it if you want. Drain and fill should suffice though unless you’re highly sensitive.

Ok, if I did this how many ounces per gallon?

 

[brandon429]

regarding palytoxin: I wish someone from Austin would post a picture of the nano reef aquarium sitting for 5+ years on the counter of the Aqua Dome pet store. it's about 1500 brown palys covering every square inch of the setup.

they clean it by putting their hands in it

they run siphons off it by siphoning water with a mouth+ hose like we all do

no dogs have died, no humans have died, no customers paying right next to the nano breathing it's "fumes" have died because that's not where the headline clicks are.

paly fear is the best hype ever seen in reefing, we're buying it hook + line +sinker.

continue on, there's no way to extract one's self from the chosen fear. powerless, you must bleach indeed.

 

[rennjidk]

Absolutely DO NOT bleach an 800g system full of live rock and sand inside your home. There's going to be significant off gassing that could kill or severely damage you and anyone else living there. People bleach rocks outside in trash cans for a reason.

 

[Glenner’sreef]

From what I understand, bleach needs to dry in order to not remain effective. Cleaning of figurines, plastic plants, filter socks etc. Your live rock is quite porous, there in is the problem. Good luck. Definitely following.

 

[The_Paradox]

Ok, if I did this how many ounces per gallon?

Depends on contact time. I would do 1oz/g for one hour if you really want to feel good about it.

 

[The_Paradox]

Absolutely DO NOT bleach an 800g system full of live rock and sand inside your home. There's going to be significant off gassing that could kill or severely damage you and anyone else living there. People bleach rocks outside in trash cans for a reason.

 

[jeeper07]

you didn't have a palytoxin episode, that's mass hysteria.

I really think I did and here’s why, when the tank was finally full of water I turned the return pumps on and it took me a while to adjust them. The chamber before the pumps was slashing into them creating tons of micro bubbles. Within 5 minutes of the tank running I had terrible sneezing/coughing and tons of mucus. Later that night I came from from work to find my dog having a hard time breathing. Something definitely happened

Absolutely DO NOT bleach an 800g system full of live rock and sand inside your home. There's going to be significant off gassing that could kill or severely damage you and anyone else living there. People bleach rocks outside in trash cans for a reason.

I was worried about that too, that’s why I posted here.

 

[rennjidk]

Depends on contact time. I would do 1oz/g for one hour if you really want to feel good about it.

That's 7g of bleach in an enclosed area for an hour....have you never cleaned a bathroom?

I don't get what's funny about not wanting OP to accidentally hurt themselves?

 

[The_Paradox]

That's 7g of bleach in an enclosed area for an hour....have you never cleaned a bathroom?

I don't get what's funny about not wanting OP to accidentally hurt themselves?

I can honestly say I’ve never tried to clean a bathroom with <300 ppm chlorine. I have cleaned it with >500ppm over a lot more surface area.

 

[jeeper07]

regarding palytoxin: I wish someone from Austin would post a picture of the nano reef aquarium sitting for 5+ years on the counter of the Aqua Dome pet store. it's about 1500 brown palys covering every square inch of the setup.

they clean it by putting their hands in it

they run siphons off it by siphoning water with a mouth+ hose like we all do

no dogs have died, no humans have died, no customers paying right next to the nano breathing it's "fumes" have died because that's not where the headline clicks are.

paly fear is the best hype ever seen in reefing, we're buying it hook + line +sinker.

continue on, there's no way to extract one's self from the chosen fear. powerless, you must bleach indeed.

If it wasn’t palytoxin then any idea what it was? It’s weird my dogs had a bad reaction too

 

[rennjidk]

I was worried about that too, that’s why I posted here.

It's not only reckless from a safety standpoint, it's also very unlikely to work due to the rock being so porous. It's going to be extremely difficult to remove the bleach afterwards even with WCs and declorinator. Most people set there rocks outside in the sun for a few days/weeks to dry out and let it evaporate. Not to mention the fact that you're using it off label. You won't just be sanitizing the tank, you'll also be dissolving a lot of organics trapped in the rock and sand, which will release even more dangerous fumes. It's just not a good idea all around. As others have said, just let your carbon reactor run for a day or 2. It will pull out any potential palytoxin from the water column.

 

[Dom]

So I believe I had a bout with palytoxin that I described in another thread. The tank is 800 gallons and I used 4 tubs of reef mortar so removing the rock would be a total pain. My question is this. Can I bleach the entire tank rock and sand included? I want to make sure the palytoxin is for sure gone. I read about people bleaching rock all the time but never inside the tank. This is a fresh start up, no fish or anything is in the tank, just live rock. Some of the live rock contained paly’s and zoas that died off months ago in a holding tank, and when I transferred them into the display during the aquascape process is when I believe it got released during start up from the aeration of the return pumps. Please let me know

I would empty the entire tank and fill it with a 50/50 mix of tap water and white vinegar. I would place ALL rock and equipment in the tank and allow the solution to thoroughly clean everything.

Then drain the tank, remove everything in it and start over.

 

[The_Paradox]

It's not only reckless from a safety standpoint, it's also very unlikely to work due to the rock being so porous. It's going to be extremely difficult to remove the bleach afterwards even with WCs and declorinator. Most people set there rocks outside in the sun for a few days/weeks to dry out and let it evaporate. Not to mention the fact that you're using it off label. You won't just be sanitizing the tank, you'll also be dissolving a lot of organics trapped in the rock and sand, which will release even more dangerous fumes. It's just not a good idea all around. As others have said, just let your carbon reactor run for a day or 2. It will pull out any potential palytoxin from the water column.

Chlorine boils a negative temperatures. Drain and refill would be more than enough.

 

[Dom]

I can honestly say I’ve never tried to clean a bathroom with <300 ppm chlorine. I have cleaned it with >500ppm over a lot more surface area.

I once had a guy who tried to clean his bathroom using a mixture of Ammonia and Chlorine.

The fire department had to go in with breathing apparatus to get him out.

 

[landlubber]

whether or not OP had Palytoxin exposure is tough to determine but i can understand a person preferring to be safe rather that sorry.
My LFS has an employee that has worked there for over 10 years and has extreme sensitivity to handling paly's & zoas without ppe. He breaks out in hives regardless of which type and simply from transferring a frag plug and just making contact with the coral.