I have a far out question about Chlorine

[Dom]

Among other things, chlorine is a great way to keep a pool clear, particularly of algae.

And I'm wondering; is there an amount of chlorine that can be dosed to effectively combat algae without upsetting the tank?

I'm guessing that a quantity that could be dosed safely, wouldn't be effective in combatting algae... but that is just a guess.

 

[Doctorgori]

no, but you can use peroxide in a similar vein

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Chlorine kills lots of things, including bacteria, and likely is quite harmful to bigger organisms.

 

[Dom]

no, but you can use peroxide in a similar vein

Must I be concerned with peroxide in terms of it destroying the "good things" like the nitrifying bacteria colony?

 

[Doctorgori]

Must I be concerned with peroxide in terms of it destroying the "good things" like the nitrifying bacteria colony?

not really, although shrimp can be sensitive…. generally speaking you can either spot treat with a turkey baster/hypo ( my preference) or use a dosing pump… many threads on both methods

 

[tedfisher496]

Among other things, chlorine is a great way to keep a pool clear, particularly of algae.

And I'm wondering; is there an amount of chlorine that can be dosed to effectively combat algae without upsetting the tank?

I'm guessing that a quantity that could be dosed safely, wouldn't be effective in combatting algae... but that is just a guess.

Chlorine is a poison to any kind of livestock in any aquarium sat or fresh. Controlling algae should be done with good husbandry and maintenance schedule.

 

[CBonito]

no, but you can use peroxide in a similar vein

How do you dose it in order to not cause the bottom to fall out on your ph while the ORP spikes into the 400s?

 

[Dom]

not really, although shrimp can be sensitive…. generally speaking you can either spot treat with a turkey baster/hypo ( my preference) or use a dosing pump… many threads on both methods

Well... I'm not dealing with an algae problem. It was more of a curiosity question than anything else.

 

[Dom]

Chlorine is a poison to any kind of livestock in any aquarium sat or fresh. Controlling algae should be done with good husbandry and maintenance schedule.

I agree. It was a curiosity question.

 

[taricha]

a tiny amount of chlorine in tank water will quickly react with a number of things, ammonia, aminos, proteins. It will not stay as free chlorine for any length of time.
But then it's still chloramine or some other chlorine-related compound which probably isn't great to have around either.
I'd experiment with literally every other oxidizer I can think of (h2o2, ozone, permanganate) before considering bleach as an in-tank treatment for anything.

 

[tedfisher496]

a tiny amount of chlorine in tank water will quickly react with a number of things, ammonia, aminos, proteins. It will not stay as free chlorine for any length of time.
But then it's still chloramine or some other chlorine-related compound which probably isn't great to have around either.
I'd experiment with literally every other oxidizer I can think of (h2o2, ozone, permanganate) before considering bleach as an in-tank treatment for anything.

and we use it in our public water, and put it in our pools.

 

[Dom]

and we use it in our public water, and put it in our pools.

Exactly. So if there is some level of chlorine that is safe to have in drinking water, I wondered why this couldn't be true in a reef tank.

 

[danimal1211]

Exactly. So if there is some level of chlorine that is safe to have in drinking water, I wondered why this couldn't be true in a reef tank.

It’s used in pools at low concentrations for sterilization.

 

[Dom]

It’s used in pools at low concentrations for sterilization.

Yes, and also in drinking water.

So if there are levels of chlorine in drinking water which are acceptable for human consumption, then there must be some level of chlorine that can be used in a reef tank.

The question would be how much chlorine can be used safely, and is that quantity enough to effectively control algae?

But as has been pointed out, chlorine will impact many of the desirable things in the tank (think nitrifying bacteria).

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Yes, and also in drinking water.

So if there are levels of chlorine in drinking water which are acceptable for human consumption, then there must be some level of chlorine that can be used in a reef tank.

The question would be how much chlorine can be used safely, and is that quantity enough to effectively control algae?

But as has been pointed out, chlorine will impact many of the desirable things in the tank (think nitrifying bacteria).

Chlorine certainly has different effects on different organisms at a given concentration.

Your hope is that it kills only bad things in the tank before killing any desirable things. There's no evidence that I have seen that suggests that algae is easier to kill than bacteria or corals or anything else we want to retain with chlorine.

In general, that is how drug discovery works for infections, but it takes a huge amount of effort to find those very few ways to kill bad things and not good things in your body.

 

[danimal1211]

My last house had a pool and one of the most important lessons from taking care of it that translates to reef keeping is this example:

I meticulously kept up with the care of that pool so that at any given time it was safe to swim in. One day I noticed a leaf that had sunk to the bottom but didn’t have time to net it out until the next day. That next day when I went to net that leaf out I was surprised to see brown algae growing under it in my “sterile” pool.

Lesson 1 for reef keeping: parameters aren’t so much what feeds problem algae. Detritus feeds problem algae. We have clean up crews for very good reasons and I am part of that crew.

Lesson 2 for reef keeping: I will starve/kill the delicate species I like before I will starve/kill the problem species by reducing nutrients and adding chemical treatments.

I just heard Richard Ross say the other day, section off a piece of reef from herbivores and you’ll have uncontrolled algae.