Sodium Hydroxide in bleach…ugh

[Flame2hawk]

I don’t think any large organism was in the tank. I thought he just accidentally used splashless bleach, and now he thinks his rocks and sand is no good anymore.

Not sure what you mean by large or against?? The tank was up for about 2 1/2 years fully stocked with beautiful angels, tangs and triggers…..so yes it was established and thus had organisms in it….

 

[Miami Reef]

Not sure what you mean by large or against?? The tank was up for about 2 1/2 years fully stocked with beautiful angels, tangs and triggers…..so yes it was established and thus had organisms in it….

Why would you add bleach to a tank full of fish?

I thought you removed the fish prior to adding the bleach.

 

[Flame2hawk]

Photo shows accumulation after just 15 minutes….I’m tired.

It’s obvious I’m going to have to drain the tank. Do you think the bleach had done its job in 27 hours or should I wait longer (dont know how much longer I can keep up with this mess!)….thx!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

FWIW, I do not think it is necessarily true that his bleach contained soaps.

 

[Flame2hawk]

Why would you add bleach to a tank full of fish?

I thought you removed the fish prior to adding the bleach.

Of course I removed the fish before! By organisms I thought yu meant things like accumulated fauna, worms in sand etc.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Did you just add bleach to a normal reef tank? Rocks, organisms, corals, everything?

How much?

To kill parasites you will kill everything.

 

[Flame2hawk]

FWIW, I do not think it is necessarily true that his bleach contained soaps.

Confused on what to do next as these suds are out of control?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

How much bleach?

A cup? A gallon? 1 mL?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Of course I removed the fish before! By organisms I thought yu meant things like accumulated fauna, worms in sand etc.

We did. Never add bleach with organisms present unless you want to kill them all.

 

[Miami Reef]

Of course I removed the fish before! By organisms I thought yu meant things like accumulated fauna, worms in sand etc.

OK. Let’s just take a deep breath for a second. I understand the situation completely.

@Randy Holmes-Farley @Flame2hawk

He added (splashless) bleach to an empty tank (besides for micro fauna).

Now, flame2hawk: how much bleach did you add to your 650 gal tank?

The concern is that he is afraid the splash less bleach will ruin his rocks/sand. Am I correct, @Flame2hawk ?

 

[Cell]

Fact check: It's true, Clorox Splash-Less bleach does not disinfect surfaces

The splashless variety of Clorox bleach was not approved as a disinfectant for use against COVID-19 in 2020.

www.usatoday.com

By adding the ingredients needed to achieve the higher viscosity for its Splash-Less formula, Clorox altered the concentration of sodium hypochlorite to a variable 1%-5%. According to the Clorox website, the company's regular bleach, absent the sudsing agent, has a sodium hypochlorite concentration between 5% and 6.5%.

 

[Cell]

Sudsing agent added to achieve higher viscosity for splashless.

 

[Flame2hawk]

Did you just add bleach to a normal reef tank? Rocks, organisms, corals, everything?

How much?

To kill parasites you will kill everything.

It’s a FOWLR tank with about 500-550 lbs of live rock and 100 lbs of live sand. What’s left in tank is about 65 lbs of sand and 100 lbs of live rock. I will sterilize the 450lbs of rock taken out separately…as soon as i have time To do so and not spend all my time taking out suds….I used approximately 1 3/4 gallons.

 

[YOYOYOReefer]

you might try vinegar , citric acid, or sodium bisulfate It migh help kill off the suds

 

[threebuoys]

This is the SDS for the Hdx splash less product.

 

[KrisReef]

Confused on what to do next as these suds are out of control?

Put on long gloves.
Add laundry.
Agitate for 15 minutes,
Drain and rinse with fresh water.
Repete until foaming stops.
Remove laundry, tumble dry low or hang on a line for natural recovery.

Good luck with this interesting development. The bleach has killed everything you need to worry about. The humor of the situation is probably lost on you at the moment but once your tank is back running you should revisit this thread and be thankful for the helpful folks on here.

 

[Flame2hawk]

Fact check: It's true, Clorox Splash-Less bleach does not disinfect surfaces

The splashless variety of Clorox bleach was not approved as a disinfectant for use against COVID-19 in 2020.

www.usatoday.com

By adding the ingredients needed to achieve the higher viscosity for its Splash-Less formula, Clorox altered the concentration of sodium hypochlorite to a variable 1%-5%. According to the Clorox website, the company's regular bleach, absent the sudsing agent, has a sodium hypochlorite concentration between 5% and 6.5%.

Thx. Doesn’t say soap though? Then why all the suds?

 

[Flame2hawk]

Are we agreeing that 27 hours is enough time to kil everything and that the next step is draining the tank, rinsing it with tap water, draining again. Fill with RODI saltwater? The problem i see with that is the chlomaine and contaminants in tap water staying behind. To combat that, I would probably fill it with freshwater RO, treat it with prime, then convert to saltwater in the DT. What do you think?

 

[Cell]

Myristamine oxide - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Myristamine oxide is an amine oxide based zwitterionic surfactant with a C14 (tetradecyl) alkyl tail. It is used as a foam stabilizer and hair conditioning agent in some shampoos and conditioners. Like other amine oxide based surfactants it is antimicrobial, being slightly more effective than lauryldimethylamine oxide against the common bacteria S. aureus and E. coli.[1]

 

[YOYOYOReefer]

I deliver chemicals , specifically about half a million to a million lbs a week of caustic and hypo. We go to the bleach plants, the power plants and to industrial chemical plants with these products daily. . I have yet to see a splashless bleach plant that does not add a surfactant most also add fragrances. This bleach has zero industrial uses as it’s disinfecting qualities are very weak as usually it’s only 1 percent hypo. It’s easy money for Chlorox and costs less to produce per gallon