# Neutralizing bleach?



## Wantsome99 (Nov 27, 2016)

I soaked my texas holey rocks over night in a tub of water with bleach. I rinsed the rock and put it back in the tub with new water a large dose of seachem prime. It's been soaking for 5 hours with the prime. 

The rock is porous and no matter how much I rinse I can still smell bleach so I'm hoping the prime will neutralize it. If I let it dry out will any bleach left evaporate? Or should I dry it then soak it a second time with seachem prime?

I'm nervous about using bleach. I tried cleaning some rocks with it 10 years ago and almost killed my fish.


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## DaveK (Jul 10, 2010)

I would soak it a second time in new water change the water and them soak it a third time. Do each soak for at least a day. I'd add prime to each water change, but no need to over do it. 

Used properly bleach is one of the safest things you can use to sterilize a tank or rocks, but you do need to make sure you get it all out. Several changes of water usually do this quite well.


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## Vohlk (Apr 8, 2016)

In addition to above you can add an airstone to the tub you soak the rock in it will help off-gas the bleach faster.


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## Chlorophile (Aug 2, 2011)

Put em in the dish washer with no soap pack!


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## Surf (Jun 13, 2017)

seachem prime will only work with the small amount of chlorine found in tapwater. It is overwhelmed by the amount of bleach you used. Rinsing is your best option. Another thing you can do is to add Baking Soda to the rinse water. Baking soda will netralize chlorine.


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## GraphicGr8s (Apr 4, 2011)

It may be clear of the bleach but the smell will linger a while. 
Soaking isn't a bad idea but you can also just leave it out in the sun to dry out. 
Time also is not a friend of bleach.
Bleach, generally, is only viable for a 24 hour period. Problem with bleach is the stuff it leaves behind. Next time try peroxide. I dump a ton into the vat I sterilize in. Breaks down into water and an ion of oxygen.


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## splattered (Jun 7, 2017)

Bleach is the worst thing to put near anything fish related. Why would you need to "bleach rocks" - just curious. 

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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

No problems with bleach soaking holey rock. I use a ton of the stuff and just do it as I do all the tank stuff. Soak it overnight or so, rinse to dilute the bleach to make it less slippery and less prone to dripping on your clothes, Then lay it out to dry. When you smell the bleach after drying, it is likely to not be bleach but the remaining dead stuff left on the rock. 
If you think about bleach, it is what is used to clean the tap for many of us so the only difference is the amount of water in a jug of 6% chlorine versus the tap water. If you are in a small community well or private well which is chlorinated, they do actually just go to the store and buy bleach off the shelf as a handy form of chlorine. Buying big expensive equipment to inject liquid chlorine is just not in the budget for small operations. So when you rinse something that has been soaking, you are diluting the bleach down to the near the same level as normal tap water and we deal with that amount of chlorine much of the time. Give it time and it gasses off and blows away. 
The problem with bleach is that there are far too many folks who like to pass on stories about some magic item in bleach. But then have you ever read what that mystery item is called? It must truly be bad stuff though as it can't be named, can't be seen, and only comes out when fish are there to be killed. That is one mean item ----right up there with gremlins, hoodoos, and ghosts!

Why would you bleach rocks? One thing is to get holey rock white so it sells better!!! Pretty routine thing to do.


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## GraphicGr8s (Apr 4, 2011)

@PlantedRich I had a chlorinator on my last house's well and I had one on this well. It's more than the chlorinator. I used a filter also to remove sulphur. Cost a grand and a half maybe. Like you said. Bought plain bleach off the shelf. Every do often a buddy gave me the chlorine tablets for pools and I did have to lower the dosing pump.

Bleach is simply an oxidizer. Same as peroxide.


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## Wantsome99 (Nov 27, 2016)

Thanks for the reply's. The rock has been soaking for 24 hours. I'm going to rinse then change the water and let it soak another 24 hours. Then let it dry out and rinse again. I'm not taking any chances. I want to make sure I get as much of the residue off as possible. 

Basically I have a tank full of synodontis catfish I'm putting it in. They're scaleless fish I'll know in the first couple minutes if there is a problem. They're skin will get irritated easily if there is any residue. I'm hoping to avoid any problems.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

I think the fear of bleach is pretty much a generation/age factor. Many of the current folks missed out on doing laundry with liquid bleach. Even though their mother most likely used it every day, they have no experience with using bleach on diapers to get them clean and white! The paper diaper generation has missed some basic science! So maybe it is not good to take a post from a forum as true so look a bit further. Ask your mother how she "neutralized" the bleach she used on cloth diapers and white shirts! 
She may give you a pretty odd look but that's the risk you take. 
Her methods were very simple. She washed the diapers, rinsed them and hung them out to dry! Then she wrapped them on your baby bottom as there was nothing there to harm you. 
So if there was no magic substance that soaked into something as porous as cloth, can we assume there will be none soaking into a rock? When folks tell me there is a liquid that soaks in but won't dry out, I begin to give the "odd look". Lots of folks have never even seen a clothesline in a backyard, hanging full of diapers, let alone used one!


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## lksdrinker (Feb 12, 2014)

If you let it completely dry you'll be fine. The bleach will evaporate.


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## M Allred (Jan 13, 2017)

I use bleach for cleaning for filter parts, rocks, etc., and neutralizing regenerated Purigen pads.
I will also use it to sterilize an aquarium or whatever once in a while. I don't want to wait overnight. I use sodium thiosulphate for a neutralizer. I bought a kilo of the stuff for $11.00 on Amazon. 
Four ounces mixed with a gallon of water gives you a solution that will neutralize chlorine in tap water at a rate of 2 drops per gallon of water to be treated. Pretty much a lifetime supply! Add enough sodium thiosulphate and soak until the slick feel, and chlorine odor is gone, doesn't take long.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

M Allred said:


> I use bleach for cleaning for filter parts, rocks, etc., and neutralizing regenerated Purigen pads.
> I will also use it to sterilize an aquarium or whatever once in a while. I don't want to wait overnight. I use sodium thiosulphate for a neutralizer. I bought a kilo of the stuff for $11.00 on Amazon.
> Four ounces mixed with a gallon of water gives you a solution that will neutralize chlorine in tap water at a rate of 2 drops per gallon of water to be treated. Pretty much a lifetime supply! Add enough sodium thiosulphate and soak until the slick feel, and chlorine odor is gone, doesn't take long.


This is defintitely good advise for those who are rushed. It does get the job done overnight. But maybe the biggest point to keep in mind is that there are tons of really experienced fishkeepers who use bleach all the time and find it really good stuff when used correctly. 
It is dangerous if not used correctly but so is water! We just need to be a bit smarter than the average rock? 
But every time bleach is mentioned there is always this small portion of new folks who protest that it is dangerous because their fish died! DUH! Won't a bunch of new folks kill their fish with or without bleach? :crying:


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## splattered (Jun 7, 2017)

It just seems anal retentive

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## AbbeysDad (Apr 13, 2016)

PlantedRich said:


> It must truly be bad stuff though as it can't be named, can't be seen, and only comes out when fish are there to be killed. That is one mean item ----right up there with gremlins, hoodoos, and ghosts!


You forgot Trolls, Vampires, and Zombie's... and what the hey is a Hoodoo? :wink2:


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

AbbeysDad said:


> You forgot Trolls, Vampires, and Zombie's... and what the hey is a Hoodoo? :wink2:


Not sure? It may be like all the rest of those scary things we have never seen but hear about all the time. Or maybe it a combo of homeboy who believes in voodoo? But I'm sure a hoodoo will get me if I don't shape up! 
:grin2:

Hoodoo (folk magic) - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoodoo_(folk_magic)

African American Hoodoo (also known as "conjure", "rootworking", "root doctoring", or "working the root") is a traditional African American folk spirituality that developed from a number of West African spiritual traditions and beliefs.


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