Dog peed on bag of gravel

[lyquidphyre]

I have a huge bag of natural gravel (it's a 50lb bag and I've probably used about 10-15 lbs of it already) and my dog peed all over the bag. Is there any way I can use this gravel again? I figure it is essentially ammonia and I could rinse it thoroughly but I don't want to risk it if it could severly mess up a tank.

Any thoughts?

 

[papa_bear_21]

I would think a bleach bath followed by a soap bath, then many rinsings would be good...but I'm no expert...I'm sure someone more experienced will chime in...

 

[lyquidphyre]

I'd be afraid to use bleach! I know if I rinse it a zillion times it would be okay, but something about bleach and aquariums gives me the willies!

 

[papa_bear_21]

I truly dont blame you, if you have a good disinfecting soap (like dawn), and rinse with copious amounts of water afterwards. Thats how we cleaned our gravel before we put it in the tank, I would think the soap would kill anything harmful that may be there. As long as the gravel is rinsed good, there should be no ill effects. Our fish are doing great

 

[Zagz]

Personally I'd choose the bleach over gravel with much rinsing and some dechlorinator,

 

[JulieB]

I'd be worried about using soap. I'd go with the bleach. After rinsing a ton with regular water, you can add some dechlorinating treatment to the rinse-water to get rid of any trace amounts of bleach.

 

[rich311k]

I would think some bleach and a very good rinsing would do the trick.

 

[lyquidphyre]

Thanks guys! I guess I can try the bleach thing. Now I just need a way to easily rinse/clean 40lbs of gravel hehe

 

[Lepomis]

Soap? Bleach? Radiation Honestly don't add anything. Poke some holes in the base and rinse with a couple gallons of tap water and all is good.

 

[SparKy697]

Soap is completely out.
Bleach is not a problem at all. What you don't rinse off will be easily dealt with by a good dose of dechlor. If you have any doubts rinse, rinse, rinse......

To be honest, I don't know what if anything is to be worried about. While you and I may not like the idea, the urine is probably not as much of a problem as it sounds like.

FWIW I keep a bucket with a strong bleach solution at all times. Anything that goes in any of my tanks gets soaked in that bucket before it goes into another tank. All I do is to rinse all utensils before using them.

 

[BillD]

I'm with Sparky, on this one, including the strong bleach solution. If you were to let the gravel dry out with bleach in it, you would be left with salt and gravel.

 

[theotheragentm]

I would just rinse it with water. If you've ever been in a public pool, you've been in much worse than that gravel. Rinse it and I you'll be fine.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I'd use the bleach. It's better to be safe than sorry.

Theotheragentm- I don't think her fish could live in that public pool.

 

[7Enigma]

Give it a quick rinse and let it dry out. There is no reason to go through the trouble of bleach/soap. NONE. Urine is primarily composed of salts and minerals and is normally sterile (UTI is the exception). It actually looks quite a bit like Flourish Comprehensive!

 

[Alshain]

Fish swim in their own urine. As nasty as it sounds, you probably wouldn't have any problems if you didn't even rinse it. (But I would anyway) Don't use soap on aquarium equipment, ever. You could use bleach but it is not necessary. If your concerned about bleach, white vinager is a milder solution. I would just rinse it real good and be done with it.

 

[QTOFFER]

I agree with those who suggest rinsing with plain old water. There is nothing in urine that would require anything stronger.

 

[lyquidphyre]

I figured urine is so natural it wouldn't be a big problem. I was worried it might create an unwanted cycle or something. I know that not all of the gravel was peed on, just the outer part (he peed on the thick paper bag holding the gravel, so the stuff in the middle is probably okay)

I might just rinse it with water when the time comes for me to use it again and keep an eye on it from there

 

[sweetness8t5]

ROFL, I'm sorry, but am I the only one that thinks this is hilarious?!

My male dog's the SAME way, we can't keep Anything on the floor without expecting it to get peed on!! hahahahahaahaha... oh, ok.. I'm sorry. ...maybe. =)

How bout if you're paranoid about the pee, just dilute the bleach real well? Like a cap-full for a huge bucket of water. Bleach is powerful stuff, you don't need a lot to disinfect.

 

[lyquidphyre]

ROFL, I'm sorry, but am I the only one that thinks this is hilarious?!

My male dog's the SAME way, we can't keep Anything on the floor without expecting it to get peed on!! hahahahahaahaha... oh, ok.. I'm sorry. ...maybe. =)

How bout if you're paranoid about the pee, just dilute the bleach real well? Like a cap-full for a huge bucket of water. Bleach is powerful stuff, you don't need a lot to disinfect.

I found it amusing until I tried to move the bag of gravel and the bag disenegrated and I had to scoop up 30+ lbs of gravel and put it into a different bag =oP

Here is the culprit:

Some might remember a long time ago me talking about him and the long story about how we found him and how we couldn't find him a new home in the Lounge.

 

[sweetness8t5]

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW...
*heart melts*
Resembles my dog, somewhat...