Okay To Use Bleach In Refill Bucket?

I have a bucket that is solely used to refill my tanks, and I used it this evening to clean the algae off a couple rocks. I used two cups of bleach in 2 gallons of water. I rinsed the bucket real well after. I feel like there's still a faint smell of bleach. Is it okay to use the bucket for refilling or did I contaminate it?

 

I wouldn't use a bucket that has been cleaned with bleach. You might introduce bleach into your aquarium.

 

What if I rinse it with vinegar? Guess I can just get another bucket.

 

I would just get a new bucket, like .

 

Is it okay to use the rocks? I'll soak them in dechlorinated water for a couple hours.

 

What type of rocks are they?

I would let everything dry out in the sun, then re-rinse it all. Afterwards, dechlorinate it with a large dose of your water conditioner.

A couple of days ago, I coincidentally removed all the limestone and flagstone from our 55g, blasted them with the garden hose and gave them a quick scrub with a brush. I knocked off the algae without using bleach.

I have used a very diluted bleach solution though, on other decor and the hoses for a canister filter. Maybe a few ounces of bleach in a 5 gallon bucket.

After a thorough rinsing and let to air dry, I would use Seachem Safe (powdered version of Prime) to dechlorinate the bucket at all the items.

After a good soak and another rinse, everything was good again.

When I used to use Purigen, I would regenerate it with bleach, then dechlorinate it and the container with Prime or Safe.

As for your 2 cups bleach per 2 gallons of water solution, that seems very strong for aquarium use in my opinion. I've used that type of strength before when disinfecting exposed surfaces of possible bloodborne pathogens.

 

As far as I know bleach does air out eventually, I mean its the same active ingredient that keeps our water safe for drinking in most areas. In amounts like that it could take a long time. As others have said using something to dechlorinate should work on the rocks but as for the bucket it should be fine as well if given ample time to degas unless say it can bind to that type of plastic. If you can smell chlorine with your nose it is differently at unsafe levels and that may take a long time.

As for me I would just get another bucket if I could as better to be safe and can never have enough of them.

 

They are Ohko (dragon) rocks.

A cup per gallon is only a 6% solution, so its not very much. A 10% solution is what was recommended. Regardless, I think it will be fine. Most of the algae is gone. I soaked in Excel then in hydrogen peroxide prior to the bleach. However, there is still some brown algae on the rock that is very difficult to remove.

 

After all that I would be shocked if its still alive and not just dead with arrested decay so it looks alive.

 

I'm sure it's dead. I just can't get it off.

 

Few hour soak in vinegar maybe? It would brake(kill to if it where alive) down the organics some and if any gets in your tank the micro organisms love the stuff as long as your not say poring it in the tank it will not harm the system only feed it unlike the toxic chems. I use it for everything from cleaning to small PH adjustments. Love it as no sweat if I say drop the cleaning rag in the water or even spray right over the water, not only that but it also has been shown to kill bacteria and other vectors the same as bleach pretty much.

 

Through the years (at least 20) I have used both my 4 gallon and 2 gallon fresh water buckets many times to bleach my tank deco. Once done I rinse the deco in highly dechlorinated water in this bucket. Doing that also dechlorinates the bucket.

I can still smell the bleach but I know the odor isn't coming from the buckets. It is the residual odor of bleach that stays with me for a while any time I use it for anything. If you didn't wear gloves the odor may be coming from your hands.

 

Sounds like I'll be fine then.

Here's a pic of the dragon stone with brown algae stains on it. I can't remove them for the life of me. I've tried bleach, Excel, hydrogen peroxide, and scrubbing with a scotchbrite pad and a toothbrush. Can't get it off. Maybe I'll try steel wool next (the kind without soap added).

 

Use some Prime to dechlor the bucket. Its how we recharge Purigen. soak the Purigen overnight in 50% bleach 50% water solution. then rinse well in tap water and then soak in 25% Prime 75% water solution.

have you tried course grit sand paper?

 

Sounds like I'll be fine then.

Here's a pic of the dragon stone with brown algae stains on it. I can't remove them for the life of me. I've tried bleach, Excel, hydrogen peroxide, and scrubbing with a scotchbrite pad and a toothbrush. Can't get it off. Maybe I'll try steel wool next (the kind without soap added).

Beautiful stone! Where did you find it?

 

Sounds like I'll be fine then.

Here's a pic of the dragon stone with brown algae stains on it. I can't remove them for the life of me. I've tried bleach, Excel, hydrogen peroxide, and scrubbing with a scotchbrite pad and a toothbrush. Can't get it off. Maybe I'll try steel wool next (the kind without soap added).

Really nice looking stone -
You might try a stiff wire brush but not a fine one like they use on grills. They make one that's used for removing paint/rust, etc from wood/steel, etc.
It might take the top layer of rock off but that wouldn't be a bad thing - right?
Might not be able to get in small nooks & crannys but removing some is better not removing any.
If you decide to do it make sure no wires are stuck in the rock.

 

I do water changes with hoses and pumps, and sometimes I run a bleach solution through them to kill mold that will sometimes build up between water changes.

But I always rinse the BE-JABBERS out of them to make sure all the chlorine is gone.

I don't really see a problem reusing a bucket that has had bleach in it - as long as it's been thoroughly rinsed and aired out. If still in doubt ... fill with dechlorinated water and test for chlorine to see if it is, indeed, safe.