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Bleaching rocks and scrubbing snail shells

Keetchy

Member
Joined
8 Nov 2019
Messages
439
Location
Milton Keynes
So moving house and rescape day is near. The rocks I have in the tank have stubborn algae on them. Most of it comes off with the hard brush I have but still not 100% clean.

Is it ok to leave the rocks in bleachy water for a few hours between stripping the tank down and rescaping it?

Also I have 1 nerite snail that has a thick blanket of green algae on its shell. Now o know not to stick the snail in bleach, lol, but is it ok to scrub the shell with the hard brush without it causing harm to the snail or the shell?
 
I’d leave the snail alone, or perhaps use a medium toothbrush - you can definitely cause shell damage with a stiff brush

I’ve a dishwasher I don’t use for anything but storage, add rocks and bleach and it works surprisingly well (and dead easy ;) )

It’s fine to place rocks in strong bleach, just rinse thoroughly and then place in a bucket with 10x dose Prime (as a “just in case” step) - if you rinse rock until there is no bleach scent remaining, and then allow to dry overnight, that’s also effective

As long as there’s no livestock, small amount of bleach remaining after a thorough rinsing will have negligible effect on plants/biofilter - it will be massively diluted when you refill the tank
If you’re placing epiphytes into rock crevices, you do want to ensure minimal bleach residue as I suspect Buce/Pinnatifida may be sensitive
 
I have boiled gravel that became extremely green once. Bleach just converted the extremely green algae to white ghost like algae, but didn't actually get it off the gravel.
 
Thanks a lot for your quick response...... As always.

Ok I think I will start off with just the bleach and water in a bucket as I have bleach already at home. Will scrub the rocks too.

If that doesn't work then I will buy some hydrogen peroxide and add that to water in a bucket.
 
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