2nd opinion needed for verification

[lmw80]

A co-worker asked me for help with a tank problem. All of her fish died and she wanted to start over fresh, so she cleaned the tank with bleach...not sure the % of the solution. And rinsed. She didn't use any soap.

Now she says the water is foaming. She says when she opens up the filter lid, there's suds/foam everywhere.

My feeling is that she did not rinse the bleach out fully and this would be toxic if fish were added. I feel she should empty the tank, rinse, squirt water conditioner in it and rinse that out, then begin setting up the tank again.

Sounds good or bad?

Thanks.

 

[SCFatz]

Bleach itself won't make a bubble...or at least not bubbles.

The rag used for cleaning may have carried some soap in...or the bleach is reacting with something in the tank and generating gasses.

If it were me...I'd empty and rinse.then I'd do it again...then again and refill and watch.

Either way,your right.......it aint right.

 

[DepotFish]

Maybe she didn't use plain bleach, she used some with something in it. I'd rinse, fill the tank and add an extra large dose of dechlor, wait a few hours and rinse some more. She'll have to go through the cycle again before adding fish.

 

[TomK2]

Definitely needs more rinsing. And adding dechlor to a final rinse to make sure some chlorine isn't left behind can't hurt. Like DepotFish, I suspect that the rags or bleach also contained detergent. I have used pure bleach before and not had foaming. Definitely no fish in there until it is rinsed out again. And she has to decide how to establish the bio-filter. You may refer her to my wordy essay if she decides to do it with fish:

http://home.comcast.net/~tomstank/tomstank_files/page0017.htm

But I have noticed that newcomers have a real problem with low stocking and being patient.

 

[lmw80]

Great, thanks everyone!