Trouble with bleach

[Elricsfate]

A few details are needed to get an accurate answer, so I apologize if this is a bit wordy.

A week ago I washed a few filter socks in the washing machine with a little bleach. They did not get run through an additional rinse cycle. They were pulled out of the washing machine and laid on the dryer for the last 4 days or so. Until last night...

We are setting up a new tank. Upon adding the sand we got the typical cloudy tank. We threw a few filter socks in the sump to help sift out the sand and clear up the tank.

The socks do not smell like anything, and they had been dry for several days. There are no fish or anything else in the tank. So my question is, do I need to be worried about the possibility that a little bleach leached into the water?

If so, can I use carbon, or something else, to remove it?

This is a 180 gallon tank, with an $80 bucket of salt added to it. So I'd prefer to avoid the drain and refill option if possible. However, the animals are more important than the money, and I will do that if I have to.

[tmac2102]

I would just buy some Prime to be sure, but you should be fine.

A lot of people soak their rock in bleach then let it dry out so you should be fine I would think.

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[Sk8r]

Second to Prime. I keep it in the kitchen and laundry to take bleach smell off my hands; and of course use it to handle chlorine for the freshwater tank; and after bleach re saltwater stuff.

[anthonys51]

Once you bleach something and let air dry bleach normally becomes harmless. I normally just soak in water after I bleach my socks. Been doing it this way for 3 years.


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[Julius Chen]

Related to this thread, I am still struggling with difference between bleach and chlorine. People add bleach to their pool as a source of chlorine. So bleach should contain chlorine?

But unsure what else is different as chlorine is gas at room temp vs bleach melts at 64f and only boiling at 200+f


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[Elricsfate]

Originally Posted by Sk8r

Second to Prime. I keep it in the kitchen and laundry to take bleach smell off my hands; and of course use it to handle chlorine for the freshwater tank; and after bleach re saltwater stuff.

Thank you Sk8r and the others who replied. It puts my mind at ease to read from names I know and trust that I shouldn't have an issue.

My concern was rooted in not knowing what is in bleach. I know it contains ammonia...and I know how to remove ammonia. But I am unsure if it contains anything else that might be toxic, so that was why I was worried about it.

I will add some Prime (is Amquel same/same?) and put it behind me.

[scooters reef]

Bleach IS chlorine

[anthonys51]

Originally Posted by scooters reef

Bleach IS chlorine

Yes never mix bleach and ammonia You will get a gas that can kill you


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[Elricsfate]

Interesting. I knew about the gas, but I had the mixture wrong. I thought the bleach was the ammonia, and the chlorine came from the pool supplies.

Nevertheless, thank you all. I learn something every day.

[scooters reef]

A lot of us use bleach because the cheap dollar store brand often comes out cheaper than pool store liquid chlorine, even if not as concentrated, and neither contains pain in the rear cyanuric acid Well, I have a salt chlorine generator now so done with that stuff. Now I only wish my Apex could control the pool because the pool controller nowhere near as functional and it cost even more lol

[CAPS52]

I always wash the socks again with just water and then air dry for a day. You should be fine, prime is ok but I wouldn't get used to putting a lot of chemicals in the tank. You are so lucky you are starting now and have all this help on reef central. Please listen carefully if you want a successful reef tank. Have minimal fish- do not get a dirtier fish(do your research, you want fish that dont poop large amounts all the time) Feed sparingly, I feed 1/2 cube every other day for a yellow tang, flame angel, mandarin goby, orange spot goby, 2 full grown clowns, 2 cleaner shrimp, cleaner crew, and lps and sps corals.
I repeat they will be ok. A marine biologist once told me that they can go days and weeks sometimes without finding food in the wild. Dont overfeed and you will never have a dirty water problem. Be practive. And always check you equipment to see that it is still working properly. Dont let a broken impeller make your tank skimmerless for a month. Catch it quick.

[Sk8r]

Ordinary Clorox is chlorine bleach. Pool chlorine is chlorine. Ammonia is ammonia.

[Elricsfate]

Originally Posted by Sk8r

Ordinary Clorox is chlorine bleach. Pool chlorine is chlorine. Ammonia is ammonia.

lol

So now we're back to why I wrote this post in the first place. If chlorine is chlorine, and bleach is chlorine bleach, then there is something other than chlorine (alone) in bleach.

In any event, I will use Prime as suggested and call it good.

Thanks guys

[scooters reef]

LOL, I think Sk8r was only clarifying that many brands of bleach has other stuff in them, like scents and things. Plain Clorox or Dollar General stuff, etc is just 5-9% sodium hypochlorite, while pool store chlorine is usually 10%.

[anthonys51]

Bleach will break down over time when used as directed to salt,water ,oxygen


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[billdogg]

Originally Posted by Sk8r

Ordinary Clorox is chlorine bleach. Pool chlorine is chlorine. Ammonia is ammonia.

Ordinary (unscented) Clorox (or any other brand for that matter) is bleach. Chlorine Bleach. Ammonia is ammonia AND CAN NEVER NEVER NEVER BE MIXED IN ANY QUANTITY WHATSOEVER WITH ANY FORM OF BLEACH!!!!!

IT WILL RELEASE TOXIC GAS THAT WILL KILL YOU!!!!

let me repeat just in case you missed it -

Ammonia is ammonia AND CAN NEVER NEVER NEVER BE MIXED IN ANY QUANTITY WHATSOEVER WITH ANY FORM OF BLEACH!!!!!

IT WILL RELEASE TOXIC GAS THAT WILL KILL YOU!!!!

I know this first hand. A fellow trainee in basic got detailed to cleaning the bathrooms. He mixed the two. He died. End of story.

[OrQidz]

oh wow Billdogg, how awful! Yes very toxic together.

I'm no chemist, but from wikipedia:
Sodium hypochlorite is a chemical compound with the formula NaClO. It is composed of a sodium cation (Na+) and a hypochlorite anion (ClO−); it may also be viewed as the sodium salt of hypochlorous acid. When dissolved in water it is commonly known as bleach or liquid bleach.[1] Sodium hypochlorite is practically and chemically distinct from chlorine.[2] Sodium hypochlorite is frequently used as a disinfectant or a bleaching agent.

Huh, well cleared that up....not really! Bleach is chorine with some stuff. So not pure chlorine.

Another fun chemistry factoid: Take solid sodium, which is a metal and explodes on contact with water. Mix with chlorine, which is a poisonous green gas, and you will end up with ordinary salt, which we mix into our FW for our tanks. Pretty cool.

[Julius Chen]

I read this before as well. Bleach contains sodium hypochlorine which is a compound and in liquid form at room temp. Chlorine per wikipedia is an element and in gas state at room temperature. So I just don't get it how "bleach is chlorine"?


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[crazycolt42]

Good Chemistry discussion going on here! As I understand it, indeed you cannot utilize pure chlorine (Cl-) as it is a gas @ room temp. NaClO is a compound form that allows you to use the disinfecting properties of the chlorine and oxygen. The Na "weighs it down" I guess you could say to keep it as a liquid. Ammonia (NH4) cannot be combined with bleach because a chemical reaction, or ion exchange,will occur resulting in the release of pure chlorine gas (Cl-) which is indeed lethal. If inhaled, it will essentially block the ability of your lungs to utilize gas exchange b/t O2 and CO2. Not good. If you use Prime as a precaution, you will be fine. Your probably OK anyways. Bleach breaks down when exposed to air. NaCl and H2O basically or salt and water. So your left over stuff from the bleach is absolutely harmless. Leaving out some of the exact chemistry, but basically, that's it.

[Elricsfate]

Originally Posted by billdogg

Ordinary (unscented) Clorox (or any other brand for that matter) is bleach. Chlorine Bleach. Ammonia is ammonia AND CAN NEVER NEVER NEVER BE MIXED IN ANY QUANTITY WHATSOEVER WITH ANY FORM OF BLEACH!!!!!

IT WILL RELEASE TOXIC GAS THAT WILL KILL YOU!!!!

let me repeat just in case you missed it -

Ammonia is ammonia AND CAN NEVER NEVER NEVER BE MIXED IN ANY QUANTITY WHATSOEVER WITH ANY FORM OF BLEACH!!!!!

IT WILL RELEASE TOXIC GAS THAT WILL KILL YOU!!!!

I know this first hand. A fellow trainee in basic got detailed to cleaning the bathrooms. He mixed the two. He died. End of story.

I appreciate your concern, and I am sorry for your loss. However, I did get it the first time, and as I stated, I was already aware of the dangers of mixing the two chemicals. My only confusion involved which chemical was present in which product. I will not be mixing bleach, or chlorine, or ammonia, with anything at all.

I apologize that this thread has gone so far afield. My original point was that whether bleach contained chlorine or ammonia (which I was confused about) it *also* contains *something* else. Since I know that I can remove both ammonia and chlorine from the water in my tank, my concern was the "something else".

However, it appears I need not worry about that, and so I won't.

I do agree that chemistry is terribly interesting, and I'm happy to read along as you guys discuss it. But I want to assure anyone who is concerned, that I will not be making chemical weapons in my home and killing myself and/or others.