Bleach help

[NickK]

OK, thanks to you!, I tore down my 55g saltwater tank 2 nights ago in order to house more discus (even though I don't even own one yet! Come on cycle...). I took the fish & coral to the lfs, and then I bleached the entire tank by running a 100:1 bleach solution for 24 hours. Last night I drained the tank and scrubbed everything. I tore the filters apart, washed them, and then installed them back on the tank. I filled the tank with clean water, and added a small bottle of aquasafe chlorine remover. Tonight I will drain the tank again, and fill it with clean water.

Here are my questions:

1 - Can I reuse the Emperor 400 bio-wheels? They look almost new after the bleaching.

2 - Can I reuse the Eheim Substrate in the wet/dry filter?

3 - Will this process remove the chlorine?

4 - Any other suggestions?


Thanks,
Nick

Anytime you use bleach the best thing to due is rinse well and let everything air dry. You prob could of got by just cleaning everything with fresh water being it was a salt set up to begin with.


HTH

Mike

I agree with Mike, any of the nasties that were in your salt water tank would of been taken care of with just fresh water. Just clean your filters until they smell clean.

What I do is place the filter sponges, wheels etc in a container of water to keep them wet and stick them in the microwave for a few minutes and nuke anything that may have been on/in them.
Randy

[DarkDiscus]

That's good advice, to nuke the filter materials. They should be fine for your new discus tank.

As for the bleach, you used a very light solution so your anti chlorine agents should take care of it. You should be in business then!

John

As far as you Eheim substrate, what kind is it?
Some of the substate they sold was for saltwater use only. It contains alot of calcium ions in it to help buffer the water in your saltwater tanks.
You can check it by getting a glass of tap water and checking the Ph and then add some of the substrate to the glass of water and waiting awhile and check the Ph again. If it raises the Ph I would not use it.................
Randy

[NickK]

I cannot believe this was a "light solution"! My house stinks sooo bad. I was dizzy after cleaning that thing! I will drain again tonight, and refill with dechlorinated water. Where can I get a test kit for chlorine? What levels should be on the kit? I would guess the test for a pool/spa would monitor high levels.

Randy,
Here is a link to the substrate.

http://www.eheim.com/wasser_filtermassen.htm

I have the Ehfisubstrat media. It says it is a sintered glass.

Does it sound OK?

Thanks,
Nick

Nick, I looked at the web page and you should be fine with what you have. As far as your worry about the chlorine in your water dont.....Any chlorine in your water will dissipate over several hours anyway. Just use any of the over the counter chlorine removers from your local pet store to be safe.... If you are using city water just check with your local city water dept. and make sure that you dont have chloramines in your water if you do then you will have to use something like Prime
Randy
PS, Nick the next time you go to clean a fish tank do like me...Take it to your local self cleaning car wash, the type that you pay the buck or so and use the wand and have a blast cleaning your tank. Hey you may get a few strange looks but your house will stay clean