# Bleach to disinfect equipment



## art_b (Sep 2, 2006)

I'm planning to dose erythromycin this weekend for blue green algae. I'd like to disinfect my equipment such as buckets, test kit tubes, hoses, etc with bleach so it does not re-infect the aquarium with BGA.

Does anybody know the strength of the solution, (ie. how many parts bleach : water ), and how long should I leave my equipment in the solution so it kills all traces of BGA ?


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## gibmaker (Jan 3, 2007)

I would think you would be safe with a cup of bleach in a few gallons of water. wash them rather than just let them sit there, take them out and rinse them in a couple other buckets of water with some dechlor in it to neutralize the bleach.


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

It is not easy to get rid of every last cell of cyanobacteria. This is one pest that is best controlled. I find that If I have snails and keep my iron levels up, the snails take care of it. Other nutrients should not get real low, either. I know that if nitrogen gets very low, BGA gets either poisonous or so poor in food value that the snails starve while trying to eat it.


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## art_b (Sep 2, 2006)

For equipment that have dried up (eg. nets, plant thongs), do I still need to bleach them ? Can BGA spores be able to survive out of water ?


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## art_b (Sep 2, 2006)

Anybody can answer this ?


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## Karebear (Oct 6, 2008)

To be on the safe side I would bleach them. BGA does not always transfer to other tanks thru equipment, but if the tank being used next has what it wants you can transfer it. We have a few tanks that have had bga and it did not seem to transfer to other tanks. however it is always better to be safe than sorry. That said, I have not bleached my equipment after a bout with bga and never had a problem. I hope this helps.


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## Ben Belton (Mar 14, 2004)

I clean the utensils I used to tissue culture orchids in 15% bleach. I leave them in it a few minutes.


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## Fortuna Wolf (Feb 3, 2007)

I would use hydrogen peroxide based bleach instead, or at least treat cleaned items with a high dose of water with chlorine remover.


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

I find that a thorough rinsing takes care of bleach adequately. Any trace of bleach remaining either gives off chlorine which escapes to the atmosphere or is reduced by organic matter in the water. A little mulm from another tank will absorb traces of bleach safely.


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## rodrigaj (Aug 17, 2008)

I don't want to upset you, or alarm you, but the bleach erythromicin approach will not work in the long run - unless you have figured out the imbalance that caused the bga in the first place.


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## art_b (Sep 2, 2006)

I am not upset. Getting rid of BGA is a learning process for me. 

- I added a powerhead to increase circulation
- I added purigen to my filter to get rid of organic waste.
- I am not convince that raising nitrates to 10-20 ppm is the answer for non-CO2 tanks. (This may work for CO2 injection tanks). I will experiment on redfield ratio and keep nitratehosphate ratio to 10:1. So if I have 1 ppm P, I will raise N to 10 ppm. If I have .5 ppm P, I will raise my N to 5 ppm, etc. I think I got my BGA bloom when I have too much phosphate (1 ppm) and low nitrate (5 ppm).

I will soon find out. I find this as an opportunity to learn.


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