Taking down tank questions

[Bengals888]

Hi,

I am taking down an AIO 25 gallon tank.
It has aiptasia and branching hydroid infestation.

There is 1.5” sand bed and some live rock.

If I use bleach, how does it affect the rock and sand? Does bleach absorb into the rocks and sand?

Does bleach affect the pump?

I might sell the tank so just want everything to be clean and decent.

I could toss rocks and sand but if they can be re-used, why not.

How much bleach to thoroughly wipe out the infestation?

 

[Big G]

Sand is usually a pain to sterilize. I'd toss the sand. But the rock that's a different story. Bleach will sterilize the rock. Most put the rock into a big container like a rubber trash can. Soak the rock with the bleach, a powerhead and heater running is a good idea. Let it run for a couple of days. Rinse, rinse, rinse and then dose with a product like Prime to completely neutralize the bleach.
Then you can begin to cycle the rock as normal using your favorite method: BioSpira, Seachem Stabiity, etc.

 

[Gonebad395]

Yeah the sand isn’t worth keeping. I would do exactly like @Big G suggested. When I did it with my 55gallon I rinsed for a few days just to be careful all up to you on that just make sure you use a neutralizer that’s a must.

 

[Geebs19]

Agree with the above! Toss the sand and bleach the rock.

 

[dansreef]

Toss the sand. No real good reason not to start with fresh. As for the rock, you can bleach as suggested above. An alternative is Muriatic Acid. Make sure which ever you use, good habit to do it outside, use eye and hand protection. Also using a mask is not a bad idea. The acid will eliminate anything.... clean the rock...and can be nueutralized easily. As for cleaning the tank, I use white vinegar which seems to work fine.