Best way to nuke tank

[tassod]

Need to know what would be the best and easiest way to nuke my tank. Long story short, i have some kind of parasite that will just not die, not even with going with 2 consecutive fallow periods which the last one lasted for 4 months so I need to get rid of this plague and start over. I will also be going fish only going forward. I have a 240g DT with a 100g sump. I'm thinking bleach but would appreciate step by step advice if possible. Thanks!

[sonic]

Empty tank, take out all rock and sand. Fill fish fresh water and some bleach and let the system run like that for a couple of days. Empty tank again and start over (new sand and rock). Discard old sand. Let old rock sit outside in the sun for a few months and then sell to recoup some of the $.

I'm sure there are other ways but this is what I would do.

[FishN00b83]

Do you know for sure its a parasite? How long were your fallow periods? Do you have a log of your parameters? I would definitely try to figure out what is going on first and see if its something manageable before taking drastic measures. What happens if you nuke the tank, set it back up and get the same thing again?

[tassod]

Do you know for sure its a parasite? How long were your fallow periods? Do you have a log of your parameters? I would definitely try to figure out what is going on first and see if its something manageable before taking drastic measures. What happens if you nuke the tank, set it back up and get the same thing again?

If this were to happen, sadly i would leave the hobby.....my parameters are all in check and stable. As stated in my first post my last fallow period was 4 months which should be plenty of time to kill but apparently not in my case.

i have been trying to figure this out but been unsuccessful. Most of the fish disease experts have no clue whats plaguing my system..some have suggested it is brook and there have been other people that have had the same experience with brook...even after going fallow it still did not eradicate it.

[tassod]

Empty tank, take out all rock and sand. Fill fish fresh water and some bleach and let the system run like that for a couple of days. Empty tank again and start over (new sand and rock). Discard old sand. Let old rock sit outside in the sun for a few months and then sell to recoup some of the $.

I'm sure there are other ways but this is what I would do.

If i were to leave the rock in the tank and run bleach, would i still be able to use the same rock after it has been neutralized?

[jmm]

If i were to leave the rock in the tank and run bleach, would i still be able to use the same rock after it has been neutralized?

Yes. Make sure there is no trace of bleach left before you restart. Dilution with multiple 99% water changes should clear the bleach. A little time will help.

[fishgate]

Wouldn't high doses of pure ammonia also kill everything?

[tassod]

how much bleach would i use?

[FishN00b83]

Have you had your water tested for contaminants? What is your QT process? Leaving the tank fallow for 4 months and then having the same issue again when you restock makes me believe its your water or your QT process. Ick/brook would be dead in a 4 month period.

[tassod]

Have you had your water tested for contaminants? What is your QT process? Leaving the tank fallow for 4 months and then having the same issue again when you restock makes me believe its your water or your QT process. Ick/brook would be dead in a 4 month period.

I would rather not get into this debate, really just want to know how to nuke the tank. I've debated this with several other threads in the Fish disease forums. If the water really had contaminants, everything would be suffering including inverts, corals, etc. I have many inverts including several carpet nems which are doing just fine along with lots of coral and they are also doing fine. First fish that i added after the 4 month fallow period came from a fellow reefer that had him for over 5 years with no issues. He was QT'd for most of the fallow period duration and treated with prazi and CP as a preventative and he never displayed any issues at all. Once i added him to my DT, within 2-3 weeks he was dead.

[FishN00b83]

That's not necessarily true, but OK. Hopefully you are right and everything works out. GL

[Aframomum]

Try this link for calculations on how to make a 10% solution with normal household bleach for your size system:

https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.lakemt.gov/envhealth/pdf/water_quality/CONVERTING%2520HOUSEHOLD%2520BLEACH%2520TO.pdf&sa=U&rct=j&ved=0CB8QFjACahUKEwijyYv9pL3IAhWF_R4KHaR3B8Q&sig2=Gh-lfgv_6pw-Nml84bqZZw&usg=AFQjCNGTqa8I6EA81uqJBRXv1-OK8d6hDg

[jmm]

I would put in about 2 cups and if the "bleaching effect" is visibly effective that would be enough. If not, add some more. You're going to dilute it with hose water after a day or so so there is no such thing as too much. And bleach is cheap. It's just that it doesn't take much and you can see it work.

Forty years ago we would remove and bleach the coral decorations (equivalent to live rock) occasionally just to brighten up the tank. Most aquariums were fish only. We let the coral soak in bleach, then fresh hose water, and then sun dry. Back into the tank it went and nobody in the hobby warned against that. Nobody seemed to get any bad results.

I know times have changed and people are more careful now. But, with all the advancements in the hobby, fish still die and corals don't make it. I would never "attack" my live rock if I could solve my problem another way, but in one of my tanks I have a bubble algae problem unlike anything I've run into before. I regularly remove one or two rocks, that don't have coral or anemones on them and either bleach or peroxide treat them, rinse, soak and return to the tank. No invertebrates are in decline from the process, not even the snails and shrimp that go immediately to check out the returned rocks. I don't do many at a time.

[ColinAbi]

If i were to leave the rock in the tank and run bleach, would i still be able to use the same rock after it has been neutralized?

Leave it out in the sun for a few months and let the bleach evaporate.

[toothybugs]

Shenanigans. There's too much hype and fuss about how to kill off a tank.

A few gallons of bleach - for your 300+ gallons I'd start with 5 - given a day or two will annihilate everything. A 10% solution that size in your house would drive your sinuses crazy and hopefully not get anyone sick. Let the bleach do its thing and then drain the tank. Refill it with tap and Prime if you wish, or my choice, pull the rocks and rinse them in a bucket of tap and Prime to neutralize the bleach then let them dry. They won't need more than a few days if it's warm out. Done. Re-use happily.

No need to complicate this, the bleach molecule is wonderfully unstable and turns in to oxygen and salt (NaCl) easily. Acid will make chlorine gas though so don't use vinegar at any point of the operation when bleach is present.

[jmm]

Shenanigans. There's too much hype and fuss about how to kill off a tank.

A few gallons of bleach - for your 300+ gallons I'd start with 5 - given a day or two will annihilate everything. A 10% solution that size in your house would drive your sinuses crazy and hopefully not get anyone sick. Let the bleach do its thing and then drain the tank. Refill it with tap and Prime if you wish, or my choice, pull the rocks and rinse them in a bucket of tap and Prime to neutralize the bleach then let them dry. They won't need more than a few days if it's warm out. Done. Re-use happily.

No need to complicate this, the bleach molecule is wonderfully unstable and turns in to oxygen and salt (NaCl) easily. Acid will make chlorine gas though so don't use vinegar at any point of the operation when bleach is present.

This. But it doesn't need to be that strong since you have to live with it. And it doesn't have to take long to dissipate. It can do it underwater by dilution if you don't want to dry it in the sun or mess up your 'scape.

[tassod]

I'm going to have to take the rock out anyways to get rid of the sand bed. So i'll take the rock out then and let it soak in bleach and tap water for a few days, rinse it good with tap and prime and let it dry for a week or so and it should be good to go. As far as the tank itself, not sure if i want to use 5g of bleach...1 should be good and let that run through all the pipes and pumps for couple of days? Then empty tank and fill with water and prime a couple of times and let it run to dilute?

[toothybugs]

You do have 300+ gallons, I would try for 1% if it were me. But it will be effective nonetheless, just may take longer.

One thing to consider is that in the bottles of bleach, there is often a stabilizer (I think NaOH as ~1% of the hypochlorite concentration) - dilute it too much and you will see your effectiveness wave over time as the hypochlorite molecule breaks down.

[Mark75]

If I had your struggles I would not use the rock or substrate over again!

I would dump the rock and substrate, clean everything with bleach and let dry.

I would want a fresh start and look at having the equipment already as a bonus.

I would feel different if we knew what the problem was,...but we don't!!

P.S. As my very rich uncle says when confronted with the possiblility of losing it all,.."I started out with nothing,...I can do it again!"

[tassod]

If I had your struggles I would not use the rock or substrate over again!

I would dump the rock and substrate, clean everything with bleach and let dry.

I would want a fresh start and look at having the equipment already as a bonus.

I would feel different if we knew what the problem was,...but we don't!!

P.S. As my very rich uncle says when confronted with the possiblility of losing it all,.."I started out with nothing,...I can do it again!"


I'm definitely getting rid of the sand but why do you feel that bleach would not kill everything on the rock?

[Mark75]

Because we don't know what we are killing,...do we?

[KafudaFish]

1. Drain, move rock, and throw sand away.

2. Acid wash the rock in trash cans. Good time to free the phosphates.

3. Use bleach in a sprayer for the tank, sump, and equipment.

4. Rinse everything.

5. Buy new sand and rinse.

6. Follow proper safety procedures and use safety equipment.

For weekend 1.

7. Start system again the next weekend.

[tassod]

Because we don't know what we are killing,...do we?

No we dont but the whole point of using bleach on the rock is to kill EVERYTHING so in essence, what I would be left with is dead dry rock. I don't of anything that can survive bleach.

[Mark75]

What if it is a heavy metal in your rock? There are things that can kill fish bleach will not remove.

[tassod]

If metal in rock can do this to a fish, then i will get rid of it

http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y420/tassod/fowhleri_zpserpk7qxq.jpeg (http://s1273.photobucket.com/user/tassod/media/fowhleri_zpserpk7qxq.jpeg.html)

[tassod]

1. Drain, move rock, and throw sand away.

2. Acid wash the rock in trash cans. Good time to free the phosphates.

3. Use bleach in a sprayer for the tank, sump, and equipment.

4. Rinse everything.

5. Buy new sand and rinse.

6. Follow proper safety procedures and use safety equipment.

For weekend 1.

7. Start system again the next weekend.

I think i need to run the bleach through all the plumbing, not just spray the tank and equipment

[Mark75]

I have no idea why your fish died and that is kind of my point.

You very well may be okay with bleaching the rock but there is that chance you don't fix the problem!

From what I am reading in your post this is sort of a "last ditch effort",...I would stack the deck in your favor and eliminate all possibility , including the rock.

The better the live rock you have now the better the chance something survives! The reason good live rock is good is because of all the nocks and crannies way down in the rock, if you have cheap live rock more the reason to scrape it.

[KafudaFish]

I think i need to run the bleach through all the plumbing, not just spray the tank and equipment

I meant spray it throughout the plumbing and let it sit for .period of time then you could run as usual or just flush and you would not have to worry about dilution.

Good luck and sorry you're having a terrible time.

[fishgate]

Bleach (pure) does not need to be flushed. It renders totally safe after a few days.

[mussel and hate]

Nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure

[nuxx]

I think i need to run the bleach through all the plumbing, not just spray the tank and equipment

Why not just run the system with vinegar in it for a few days?

[tassod]

Ok guys, here is where i stand right now. All the rock has been taken out and put in a tub to soak in bleach. I would say that I used about 40-50 gallons of water and I poured 2 gallons of bleach in it and let it soak for 2 days. The rock is all completely white now. I rinsed the rock and refilled the tub with tap water and added a bottle of Amquel and let that run overnight and now my rock is drying out. So the rock should be ready to go.

Do you think it would be worth it to also acid wash the rock?

I also got rid of the sand....that was a big job as i had 400lbs of it! So now this weekend i plan on sterilizing the tank with bleach. Going to use about 2-3 gallons of bleach and let it run for a couple of days. I will then drain it and re-fill with tap and add some more declorinator and let that run for a day then drain and let dry completely. Does this sound like a good plan? Is there a difference if the clorox bottle says its concentrated bleach?

[toothybugs]

Acid washing is a nice idea. Not critical but certainly a nice idea in case you have phosphates adhered to the surface.

Concentrated bleach will work just fine. It is, as described, a little denser solution. Probably get away with using 1 less bottle than you would otherwise.

[tassod]

Well I ended up using 1.5 gallons as that is what I only had left. It must have done the trick as any spot of algae turned white and the smell was so strong. I ran it all weekend and drained last night and still the smell was pretty strong. I will be refilling it again tonight to run it with just fresh water and dechlorinator.