Disentfecting 5 gallon water container

[mckwestla]

Hello,

This is my first post, and I want to keep it simple to test it out, if all goes well I am in the middle of cycling a tank and have a question. But first for an easy question:

What is the best way to disinfect/clean this kind of container. I have about 8 of them that were given to me and some of them smell really bad. I want to start premixing my salt water and store it in these containers, but they need to be cleaned.
How should I go about this? Vinegar and water? Bleach and water?

Cheers!
Matt
p.s. this is my first tank

 

[Mike J.]

First welcome to Reef2Reef! Your water container question is a trick question. What was stored in those containers before? Here is an example: My son stored plant food/fertilizer in some of those exact containers. So, no I'm not going to use them for my tank. BUT, if were to use them, I would do both things you suggested. First, I would fill them with 1 cup of vinegar per gallon of water and let soak for a day. This is to get whatever has permeated the plastic out. Then I would disinfect the containers with 1 cup of bleach per gallon of water for a day, rinse and air dry.

But my suggestion would be to get new containers for your tank.

 

[wangspeed]

If it wasn't food based product, don't risk it. Especially if it was petroleum based!

 

[mcarroll]

If these were used for aquarium purposes, unless there is physical debris that you can't get out, I wouldn't get too paranoid about cleaning them. Rinse/soak with vinegar and water as needed to help get the dirt and smell out and you should be fine.

You don't really want to store mixed saltwater though...not for more than a few days at most. While the saltwater would still be usable, vitamins will break down not long after mixing, so it's really best to mix and use immediately. Many folks - myself included - use the water as soon as it is clear/not cloudy. Some folks with exceptional circumstances (e.g. very cold RO water) will allow more time, such as overnight, but in general this is overkill. If you search the forum or look through my profile posts for my "water change a day" thread, I made two short and simple salt mixing videos which show two easy, effective ways to mix saltwater so that it's ready for immediate use in 5 minutes. Check em out!

On top of that, saltwater will be pretty hard to mix well in a closed vessel like this. (Your containers are ideal for carrying and transporting....just not for mixing.) A standard bucket or plastic trash can would be better.

 

[mckwestla]

Wow, thanks so much for the response. They just had old saltwater siting in them before from their previous owner. They smell really bad so I have them soaking in 10% bleach solution .

 

[mckwestla]

SO another question, when can I and what kind of clean up crew can i start implementing. I am on day 3 or 4 of cycling my first ever tank. My statistics:

tank: 48g
Sump: Amiracle 3 compartment wet/dry trickle filter with bioballs, I have since gotten rid of the bioballs and replace the middle compartment with live rock, golf-ball sized pieces. I am still using the drip plate with filter pad on top. I have a fluorescent bulb installed that I leave on all the time for the sump.
Protein skimmer: Coralife super skimmer 65 (still trying to find the sweet spot on this guy, not really getting any skinmate)
Powerhead: wavemaker 1150gph
Display tank lights: two fluorescent bulbs one of which is t5

So, I got my tank and set it up with tap water and treating with aquel water conditioner. I have about 30 lbs of live rock, and a bag of live sand, (and two bags of live sand that ended up being expired), I am going to add more live rock today. Yesterday I added Dr. Tim's all in one nitrogen bacteria in a bottle as well as I have added two clown fish to help assisting with the cycle. I have been monitoring levels religiously, I did have a spike of amonnia levels mid-afternoon yesterday, I added some amquel and tasted later in the evening and these were my stats:

Water temp: 77F
Ammonia: 1
Nitrates: 15
Nitrites (this one is always hard to tell): 3
pH: 8.3
Salinity: 1.021

I want to add some clean up crew because, the first live sand I added, which ended up not being live at all, and just caused a giant cloud mess. This sand has left a film over a lot of my live rock, I can use the powerhead and blow it off, but I would really like to employ cleaning crew.

Let me know your thoughts.
Cheers

 

[saltyphish]

What MC said. But it would be a great idea to fill them up with ro/di water to have on hand for top offs and emergency situations not too mention I like to keep a container around with ro/di water to soak my filtersocks in and rinse out my sponges I use as well. I use to store saltwater but noticed it just seems to add a lot of brown junk in my bucket. I read a few posts on here that you can store either safely just in a air tight container. Some salt mixes have organics in them that don't do so good being stored for long periods of time.

If these were used for aquarium purposes, unless there is physical debris that you can't get out, I wouldn't get too paranoid about cleaning them. Rinse/soak with vinegar and water as needed to help get the dirt and smell out and you should be fine.

You don't really want to store mixed saltwater though...not for more than a few days at most. While the saltwater would still be usable, vitamins will break down not long after mixing, so it's really best to mix and use immediately. Many folks - myself included - use the water as soon as it is clear/not cloudy. Some folks with exceptional circumstances (e.g. very cold RO water) will allow more time, such as overnight, but in general this is overkill. If you search the forum or look through my profile posts for my "water change a day" thread, I made two short and simple salt mixing videos which show two easy, effective ways to mix saltwater so that it's ready for immediate use in 5 minutes. Check em out!

On top of that, saltwater will be pretty hard to mix well in a closed vessel like this. (Your containers are ideal for carrying and transporting....just not for mixing.) A standard bucket or plastic trash can would be better.

 

[mckwestla]

Where is the best place (cheapest place) to get ro/di water. I don't have my own ro/di system yet and can't afford to get one at this point. And buying from LFS doesn't see cost effective either.

 

[saltyphish]

You want to wait until your cycle is over for cuc. Amonia, nitrites, and high nitrates are bad for inverts as well as fish. Patience is the key to this hobby. Let your tank fully cycle before adding anything and please do not listen to anyone or LFS suggesting to add a couple damsel fish to help the cycle. It is hard on the fish and in the end you now have 2 of the biggest bullys in your tank. You can use products like Dr. Tim's to help the cycle along. Also I would bump up your salinity to 1.024-1.026 range. What type of rock did you purchase? Was it cured when you bought it? In most cases depending on the state of cured-ness of the rock you probably will not notice much life on it. Most organisms can not live in the parameters you are showing. Do not be alarmed by that. Some will come back or if they don't will show up later in your tanks life as hitchhikers on corals and other additions to the tank. Until your tests start showing better parameters you don't want to add anything. After your ammonia, and nitrites drop and has stayed zero for a week then I would add a CUC with snails, corals, and crabs. Good luck. I know waiting sucks but who wants to waste money or kill their critters. Take it slow and good luck!

 

[saltyphish]

Other than a LFS maybe another local reefer in your area. The problem with that is if you don't own a tds meter you are gambling on the purity of the water. Some people/places are not as diligent in replacing filters and membranes as needed. IF you planning on buying ro/di water invest $30.00 in a tds meter so you know what you are buying. Even a tds reading of .001 is not preferred you want .000.

Where is the best place (cheapest place) to get ro/di water. I don't have my own ro/di system yet and can't afford to get one at this point. And buying from LFS doesn't see cost effective either.

 

[mckwestla]

I have about 30lbs of live rock in the display tank and 10lbs of live rock in the sump. I think and hope it is live rock, I definitely asked and they people I got it from said it was cured. So should I not add anymore live rock to the tank until after the cycle? Are my clowns going to be OK?

 

[mckwestla]

I have about 30lbs of live rock in the display tank and 10lbs of live rock in the sump. I think and hope it is live rock, I definitely asked and they people I got it from said it was cured. So should I not add anymore live rock to the tank until after the cycle? Are my clowns going to be OK?

You want to wait until your cycle is over for cuc. Amonia, nitrites, and high nitrates are bad for inverts as well as fish. Patience is the key to this hobby. Let your tank fully cycle before adding anything and please do not listen to anyone or LFS suggesting to add a couple damsel fish to help the cycle. It is hard on the fish and in the end you now have 2 of the biggest bullys in your tank. You can use products like Dr. Tim's to help the cycle along. Also I would bump up your salinity to 1.024-1.026 range. What type of rock did you purchase? Was it cured when you bought it? In most cases depending on the state of cured-ness of the rock you probably will not notice much life on it. Most organisms can not live in the parameters you are showing. Do not be alarmed by that. Some will come back or if they don't will show up later in your tanks life as hitchhikers on corals and other additions to the tank. Until your tests start showing better parameters you don't want to add anything. After your ammonia, and nitrites drop and has stayed zero for a week then I would add a CUC with snails, corals, and crabs. Good luck. I know waiting sucks but who wants to waste money or kill their critters. Take it slow and good luck!

 

[H2Ohio]

Storing SW

There are quite a few threads on storing SW. https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/re...ley/100436-how-long-mixed-saltwater-good.html is one.

I think the consensus is if has organics in it that will get funky without heat and oxygen (Red Sea) but the basic salt from IO is fine. I put a lot of faith in Randy H-F and saw a post of his about keeping IO for weeks just tightly sealed.

A CUC is not likely to touch "white stuff" on rocks from sand in a new setup. Wait until you have some algae growth for them to eat and your parameters start to bottom out.

 

[mckwestla]

What is the best way to get the white sediment off the rock, I don't want it to impede the bacterial growth.

Thanks so much

There are quite a few threads on storing SW. https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/re...ley/100436-how-long-mixed-saltwater-good.html is one.

I think the consensus is if has organics in it that will get funky without heat and oxygen (Red Sea) but the basic salt from IO is fine. I put a lot of faith in Randy H-F and saw a post of his about keeping IO for weeks just tightly sealed.

A CUC is not likely to touch "white stuff" on rocks from sand in a new setup. Wait until you have some algae growth for them to eat and your parameters start to bottom out.

 

[H2Ohio]

If it's truly white then it sounds like some kind of precipitate either from your water, salt mix or reaction with something in the new sand (like silica). The bacteria growth will happen throughout that nice porous rock you have, not much will impede that process. If your water is clear and the white stuff is bothering you, you can blast gravel vac it off or turkey blast it back into the water column and let your filter get it. I'd leave it be until it cycles and mentally prepare yourself to be annoyed with the gold/brown stuff, green stuff and red stuff that will grow where you don't want it!

Welcome to the fun hobby. Very cool 'scape.