Used splash-less bleach while curing live rock

[Deej1534]

So I have found a few old posts about this from 2019 and older but nothing too recent. I was a fricken idiot and just grabbed Clorox without thinking or looking I dumped it in my bin for curing new rock. It ended up being splash-less bleach and now I am trying to figure out what to do to save this rock. It sat in the bleach from Friday night till Monday night. After that I moved it to a new bin and started soaking in ro water with dechlorinator. I had no idea splash-less was such an issue.

I have switched out the water twice in the can and pulled some out. There is a slight bleach smell but not terrible. I have some sitting out drying.

What do I need to do here to save the rock?

I am going to dump the water and just add normal tap water because it’s quicker and soak it again in fresher water.

Some of the rock has a weird build up on it. Not sure if that’s from the different chemicals used in the splash-less or not. See pic below.

Anyone who has experience with doing this by accident too please tell me what you did. This is 200lbs of rock and wasn’t cheap so I really wanna save it.

 

[19Mateo83]

I know it’s too late now, but for future reference…. Pool cleaning bleach is pure chlorine and is way stronger (10%). It looks like the whiter areas are calcification from coralline that just bleached super white. I would keep doing rinse soaks. The detergent SHOULD eventually either break down or wash out.

 

[Deej1534]

I know it’s too late now, but for future reference…. Pool cleaning bleach is pure chlorine and is way stronger (10%). It looks like the whiter areas are calcification from coralline that just bleached super white. I would keep doing rinse soaks. The detergent SHOULD eventually either break down or wash out.

So have ppl been okay after doing this? The rock has been soaking in to water for about 24 hrs now. I added prime but I was worried this white is like a build up. A lot of the rock has this white on it.

 

[19Mateo83]

I don’t think it will absolutely ruin the rock, it may just take a little while longer to soak it. Though I’m not an expert, @Randy Holmes-Farley is. He may have answers for you

 

[Deej1534]

I don’t think it will absolutely ruin the rock, it may just take a little while longer to soak it. Though I’m not an expert, @Randy Holmes-Farley is. He may have answers for you

Thanks I’ll wait till tomorrow for a reply. I have some sitting out drying and some still in the bin and added some power heads more dechlorinator and a pump pushing water from the bottom of the bin to the top. Hopefully this will help losen things up

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

I am pretty sure you will be fine. It will take some extra rinsing though. Splashless bleach is just bleach with a detergent like additive. Just keep on rinsing.

 

[Deej1534]

I am pretty sure you will be fine. It will take some extra rinsing though. Splashless bleach is just bleach with a detergent like additive. Just keep on rinsing.

Should I possibly add some vinegar to help break down any build up? I have a ton of hydrogen peroxide too lol

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

The Bleach part of it has already been neutralized with the De-clor. Even if you still smell a bleach smell don't worry about that. What you have left now is, imagine you took dish soap and washed your live rock in it. You have to rinse that out.

 

[19Mateo83]

You could try agitating the water and see if it foams up. An air stone would be a good way to tell. If it suds up keep rinsing.

 

[Deej1534]

The Bleach part of it has already been neutralized with the De-clor. Even if you still smell a bleach smell don't worry about that. What you have left now is, imagine you took dish soap and washed your live rock in it. You have to rinse that out.

So just keep running water changes I guess till that smell is gone. The rock I have sitting out the smell has seemed to go away. They have been it for a few hours.

I guess at this point soaking it in ro doesn’t matter if I am gonna have to keep running water changes like this.

I can either do the last bath in ro or just sun dry for bit to ensure everything has been released from the rock

 

[Deej1534]

You could try agitating the water and see if it foams up. An air stone would be a good way to tell. If it suds up keep rinsing.

I noticed earlier when one of the power heads was hitting the surface hard there was a ton of suds that when I stopped doing what I was doing lol. Luckily nothing went into the tank yet

 

[Deej1534]

The Bleach part of it has already been neutralized with the De-clor. Even if you still smell a bleach smell don't worry about that. What you have left now is, imagine you took dish soap and washed your live rock in it. You have to rinse that out.

Would adding hydrogen peroxide to the bucket help break down the bleach?

 

[Doctorgori]

Would adding hydrogen peroxide to the bucket help break down the bleach?

Funny, most people don’t know H2O2 is sorta a dechlor…or so I’ve been told …
I’d also bet you’ll be fine

 

[Cell]

Sodium Hydroxide in bleach…ugh

I started sterilizing my tank(long story) and used bleach that has both Sodium hypochlorite and Hydroxide(used in soap but no other ingredients mentioned). Should I be worried. Below are responses from a chemist on various questions I asked. He admittedly is not an aquarist and has no...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Deej1534]

Sodium Hydroxide in bleach…ugh

I started sterilizing my tank(long story) and used bleach that has both Sodium hypochlorite and Hydroxide(used in soap but no other ingredients mentioned). Should I be worried. Below are responses from a chemist on various questions I asked. He admittedly is not an aquarist and has no...

www.reef2reef.com

Thanks for sharing this!! I read through the chain but I didn’t really see a solution. The rock has been sitting in tap water mixed with vinegar for 24 hrs and soaked off and on and then sun-dried the day before that. Today I emptied the vinegar water and am soaked it in tap water with air stones. I am still seeing bubbles from the soap.

Do you know of anything I can add to neutralize the soap? And remove it from the rock?

 

[Cell]

No, sorry, I'm not sure of a good solution here other than repeatedly soaking and rinsing. If budget allows, I'd just replace the rock.

 

[crazyfishmom]

Soaking it alone won’t do it. The game is diluting out the detergent which even if it’s just a tiny amount will continue to cause issues. I would consider a garden hose in a vat of water and letting it run for a couple of hours to guarantee that all the detergent is gone and then an RO rinse.

 

[Deej1534]

Soaking it alone won’t do it. The game is diluting out the detergent which even if it’s just a tiny amount will continue to cause issues. I would consider a garden hose in a vat of water and letting it run for a couple of hours to guarantee that all the detergent is gone and then an RO rinse.

Okay will do that is what I have basically been doing. The sudsing doesn’t seem nearly as bad as it was. I wonder if drying the rock in the sun has any effect. My thoughts were it would maybe dry the visa or soap areas.

Do you think doing another bleaching with just straight bleach not the no spill would break it down?

I have been using vinegar which has seemed to help a lot too

 

[crazyfishmom]

Okay will do that is what I have basically been doing. The sudsing doesn’t seem nearly as bad as it was. I wonder if drying the rock in the sun has any effect. My thoughts were it would maybe dry the visa or soap areas.

Do you think doing another bleaching with just straight bleach not the no spill would break it down?

I have been using vinegar which has seemed to help a lot too

The bleach will not break down soap. At this point diluting it out is your very best option. It WILL be okay, 100%. Just keep diluting out. Running water would be best. Drying out rocks is a bad idea as it might lead to more binding, you want this substance to go. Baking soda OR vinegar are your safest options that will help to break down the soap itself.

 

[Deej1534]

The bleach will not break down soap. At this point diluting it out is your very best option. It WILL be okay, 100%. Just keep diluting out. Running water would be best. Drying out rocks is a bad idea as it might lead to more binding, you want this substance to go.

sounds good I will keep soaking and letting water run through the buckets. What a fricken mistake to make