amonia and bleach?

is the amonia in tank water the same as the stuff used for cleaning?

If it is, I think I gassed myself. To clean my hospital tank I added bleach (2 capfulls for 20 gal) to the water and let it run through the tank and filter. Then it dawned on me, what if the tank had amonia and what if its the same amonia your not suppose to mix with bleach?... *PANIC* :wb: I opened all the windows, and began the suction to empty the tank into the sink. I don't know if it was panic or poison that made my heart race, ha! I feel ok now, and once the panic subsided so did the racing heart, lol!

So will I live? :lol:

you'll live.
i would be very wary about cleaning tanks and filters with bleach though, make sure its really well rinsed out, and again and again before putting it back in use.

whoops , can you tell us whether the bleach you used has any added fragrances? does the bleach foam when shook? if so and i would anyway is thoroughly rinse plenty times as fragrances etc are the biggest problem.

Hi all,
Plecmom have a look at the label, but sodium hypochlorite and ammonia react to give the chlorination of ammonia, first giving chloramine (NH2Cl), then dichloramine (NHCl2) and finally nitrogen trichloride (NCl3). These materials are very irritating to eyes and lungs and are toxic above certain concentrations.

As another useful point to remember is that, If you add it to an acid you can gas yourself with chlorine gas.

In fact sodium hypochlorite bleach is very scary stuff, and personally I don't have it in the house. I certainly wouldn't have it anywhere near water or fish (or children, other pets, food etc.)

There is no way on earth that it would ever be passed for sale if someone had just invented it, it is only still for sale because we've used it for a long time and it's slipped through the net.

cheers Darrel

oh good I will live, lol! thank you.B-)

so fish poo and pee amonia is just as deadly with bleach as regular amonia? Wow

The bleach I have is basic bleach that we use to wash the kids white clothes in to keep them white, towels, clothes, dish towels and cloth's. Its a basic no name brand household use bleach. The only ingredient it has is sodium hypochlorite 6%

I have used it in the past to clean my fish things with no problems as the cleaned equipment is never used right away after this cleaning.

Usually its a quick dip in diluted bleach, at the most 10 min soak. Then its a good rinse, followed by a vinegar bath (1 part vinegar 10 parts water this is when i scrub everything and clean the filter parts) - from there its a rinse outside with the garden hose and a soak in the big tub with dechlorinator, I run the filter on the side during this. From there, another long rinse and a 2 day bake in the sun. Before anything goes back near a fish its rinsed one last time to remove any bugs or dirt that may have been from outside.

I only do this in the summer if needed, I haven't done it in 3 years or so. But since all my fish are out of hospital, I needed to really clean this tank and all parts associated with it. The tank now will be unused unless another fish needs a hospital, so it will sit in the bacement.

Seems like a lot I know but I have nothing better to do while the kids play outside digging up the flowers, so it kept me busy, and at least now, after the short poisoning, everything will be clean. lol!

Hi all,
Plecmom what you are doing is probably fine, because you are being very thorough in making sure all the bleach is rinsed out, and you are only doing this infrequently, and you have a reason for using it. Bleach is a very powerful biocide and sterilant, we use it in the lab. As long as you remember it is corrosive and toxic and treat it with respect, it's O.K.

A few years ago I went around to a friends house and his wife was feeding the cats on the kitchen work-top, I thought "I'm never going to eat here", but I didn't say anything, as soon as the cats had finished eating she sprayed the whole kitchen (including the plates on the draining board, food cupboards etc) with a sprayer. I had to ask what was in the spray, and she said "oh it's OK, it's just bleach, it kills all the germs"!

cheers Darrel

dw1305 said:

Hi all,
Plecmom what you are doing is probably fine, because you are being very thorough in making sure all the bleach is rinsed out, and you are only doing this infrequently, and you have a reason for using it. Bleach is a very powerful biocide and sterilant, we use it in the lab. As long as you remember it is corrosive and toxic and treat it with respect, it's O.K.

A few years ago I went around to a friends house and his wife was feeding the cats on the kitchen work-top, I thought "I'm never going to eat here", but I didn't say anything, as soon as the cats had finished eating she sprayed the whole kitchen (including the plates on the draining board, food cupboards etc) with a sprayer. I had to ask what was in the spray, and she said "oh it's OK, it's just bleach, it kills all the germs"!

cheers Darrel

Click to expand...

Interesting story. Funny how some people take the use of bleach very lightly, like its no big deal to spray it around infront of your pets and yourself. I prefer the use of vinegar, baking soda, or lemon juice as I do have 3 kids, this way I know things are clean with no chance of the accidental happening. Everything we have is kept in the bacement on the top shelf. This includes the bleach, air fresh sprays, fish treatments and food, etc. Bleach is only used to clean and disinfect clothes, towels, cloth's and those type of things when someone is sick, or when my kids dirty their socks to the point they stink. I prefer not to over clean as I think germs are a good thing and your immune system needs it.

good post dw in fact Bleach is now internal banned under COSHH risk assesments inmost hotels in the UK.

it is a hazard that can not be controlled

Some very Eye opening posts in this thread, I don't often use bleach for fishy things, but I use it regularly on my bird cages, floors, drains, dishes etc..
Time for more research...