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01/08/2019, 11:18 AM | #1 |
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Can I use bleach crystals instead of liquid bleach?
absolutely cleaning rock of all pests (primarily aiptasia), and picked up some bleach crystals because figured it would be a better value (they don't have to ship watered down stuff). It's "regular scent" Clorox bleach crystals which I'm assuming means that it smells like bleach should smell (no perfumes added).
Now lets say it's good to go, how exactly do I make a "bleach" with it? The instructions on the bottle vary and none of them have a germicidal formula, so need some help on the math of converting one to another. Unfortunately Clorox MSDS have wide ranges for the percentages and they claim it's a trade secret, but lets just split the difference Crystals Sodium Chloride 75% Sodium dichloroisocyanurate dihydrate 15% Liquid stuff (germicidal concentrated) Sodium hypochloride 7.5% Now immediately I see that they are different things in both, but is there a way to do some simple math to get something equivalent? Is it a stretch to say that for every ounce of crystals I use, add 9 parts water will get me something similar? Of course I'm not a chemistry person so I don't know chemically what's going on with hypochloride versus chloride And if not, then no biggy, will use crystals for cleaning around the house/clothes and get some bleach
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Mike |
01/08/2019, 10:14 PM | #2 |
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The solid product should be fine, but I'm not sure how to compute the equivalent dosage yet. Let me look around a bit.
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Jonathan Bertoni |
01/08/2019, 10:29 PM | #3 |
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Okay, I think you need to use about 1.7 times as much of the solid, by weight. So you'd want a solution of about 8.5% sodium dichloroisocyanurate to match liquid bleach. I'm assuming that both chlorine atoms become active. Does that help?
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Jonathan Bertoni |
01/09/2019, 07:28 AM | #4 |
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I'd use the powdered bleach with caution. A colleague of mine used powered chlorine bleach (don't know the brand) to sterilize large fish tanks before stocking. After following the dechlorination protocol the chlorine tests still showed residual amounts. He thinks there was a stabilizer in the powdered product that caused it to act different than the liquid bleach.
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01/09/2019, 09:10 AM | #5 |
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I'd just spend the $5 and get a bottle of liquid bleach, why take the chance
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01/09/2019, 08:59 PM | #6 |
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Hmm, you might need to use a dechlorinator. This bleach comes in a dry form, so it won't evaporate away, and probably dissociates more slowly.
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Jonathan Bertoni |
01/10/2019, 03:56 PM | #7 |
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Thanks for the info, seemed to work good, aiptasia went very clear in a day, algae on the rock completely gone. Vat smelled like dilluted bleach (I know, I know not supposed to sniff it) although I will say it had an slightly different smell, similar to that of a hot tub or pool, and less of a laundry bleach.
And yeah I absolutely run dechlorinator solutions. I first use mother nature (evaporation and UV rays) then, a rinse, then into a SW curing vat with Seachem Safe (the crystal version of Prime... what is it with me and solid versions )
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Mike |
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