Rinsing equipment after vinegar bath

[fishbox]

How do you guys prefer to rinse your equipment after vinegar baths and please tell why?

I have always rinsed the equipment in tap water afterwards and then I would let dry for a couple days. However I just read something that said there are some things in tap water that will not evaporate with drying. So now I'm thinking this is not a good idea.

I'm wondering if I should rinse off in a mild solution of bleach water if that would help? Now I know everyone's going to say just rinse in Rodi water and I guess I can buy a bigger water storage container so that it's easier to do that. However at this point I only make and store 5 gallons per week for my ATO and I make another five gallons every two weeks for my water changes. I also do not clean all of my equipment at the same time. One day I may clean off a pump or two. And another day I might clean off a heater and thermometer. I guess my point is I'd hate to turn on my Rodi just for a gallon of water to rinse off some equipment.

 

[tdileo]

I just use tap water. Give it a dip in it and run the equipment to ensure it goes all the way through, then rinse once more, dry with a paper towel and put it back in the tank.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Tap.

 

[savetheocean]

I dont like to use any chemicals. I have had a very bad experience with bleach still in the tank after I cleaned the entire thing. Long story short it killed everything within minutes (freshwater). I washed everything out MANY TIMES before too. Just my opinion.

 

[DSC reef]

I just use RODI. I have quite a bit stored so I just use it. Tap is fine though

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

A little vinegar is good for the tank but should be easily rinsed. Clorine bleach needs to be left in the sun to break down.

 

[mfinn]

Plain old tap water.

 

[kinetic]

Using a small bucket, I'll rinse it with RO/DI and plop it into the tank (or let it dry). Like saltyfilm said, a bit of vinegar residue won't hurt (could even act as a carbon source for a bit of a bacteria boost, no3po4-x style).

Bleach is dangerous.

Here's my rule:

• Vinegar for cleaning
• Bleach for killing

Use bleach only when you need to kill EVERYTHING on the thing you're cleaning. Then rinse a lot with RO/DI. Let dry in the sun (probably at least 24 hours). Then put it in RO/DI and add Seachem Prime (kind of a dechlorinator just in case). Drying for 24 hours should be good enough to get rid of the bleach, but just in case you got it really deep into the rock, soaking in RO/DI for a couple more days with Seachem Prime would be helpful. If it were me, I would dry for a week, and then leave in RO/DI + powerhead + seachem prime for a week after bleach.

 

[Ehunforfun]

I typically wipe away most of the vinegar and let it dry a bit then return it to the tank. I used to dose quite a bit of vinegar (180 gal tank) so a little bit on the pump parts won't hurt the tank. May even help a little!