Bleach Sterilization of Phytoplankton Culture Water

mwp

mwp

In Memoriam
OK, I cave, I'm simply DONE with microwaving 16 2 Liter Bottles of saltwater and micro algae grow every couple weeks! Here are my questions:

1. How many drops of generic bleach would you use to effectively sterilized 2L of culture water?

2. How many drops and WHAT KIND of dechlorinator should I use to make the sterilized water safe for use? More specifically, what specific make/brand of dechlor will remove the bleach but NOT bind up the fertilizers and nutrients of the micro algae grow?

I look forward to any and all responses - thanks!

Matt
 
For two liters, 12 drops. I typically store one and a third liter, so I use 8 drops. That leaves two thirds liter for topping off with the dark culture.

Sodium Thiosulphate which can be bought from Florida Aqua Farms. I put 6 grams in 100 ml of good water, and then I use 10 drops per bottle (8 drops bleach, remember) to make sure it is all dechlorinated. If I wanted to conserve, I could use 8 drops. But since not all drops were created equal, I use 10 per bottle.

FWIW
K
 
Also, just a watch out. Sodium thiosulphate solution should not smell like sulphur. When it does, pour it out and start over. It apparantly goes bad after a while.
 
I use one ml/ gallon of household bleach and let it airate for 20 minutes or so. Then I add Amquel at 1ml/ gallon. This is how I prep larval tanks before adding the nest, don't see why it wouldn't work for phyto water.

I buy Amquel in 1 gallon botttles at wholesale so for me it's not expensive, I'm sure the FAF stuff is cheaper.
 
David, I wonder about a product like Amquel - won't this bind up some of the nitrogen-based "food" that the phyto needs? Afterall, Amquel works on Chloramine by breaking it apart and then nuetralizing the chlorine and ammonia components (thus why it also can be used to drop high ammonia levels when the occur with fish)?

Matt
 
Isn't Amquel just Chloramx basicly? I'd use straight ST for this purpose. That's what we use for bleach (by the 50# bag).

FWIW, the MBA (Monterey Bay Aquarium) did some excellent research on using citric acid (or wa it nitric?) instead of ST. You can find it buried on their site someplace :D
 
1 ml of bleach 5% sodium hypochlorite - 1ml Sodium Thiosulphate per galon, basically equal parts, you can use as much as you want, 5ml, 10 whatever.


the longer you leave it the better mantain with the cap on.

Any chlorine remover that is a drop per gal. will work.Use more thiosulfate if you feel unsure larvae can tolerate more than 100ppm of Sodium Thiosulphate .

Ed
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8404863#post8404863 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GreshamH
Isn't Amquel just Chloramx basicly? I'd use straight ST for this purpose. That's what we use for bleach (by the 50# bag).

FWIW, the MBA (Monterey Bay Aquarium) did some excellent research on using citric acid (or wa it nitric?) instead of ST. You can find it buried on their site someplace :D
Click to expand...

Kingsley, E., S. Mansergh, J. Dreyer, R. Phillips. 2004.
Vitamin C, an alternative to sodium thiosulfate for
bleach neutralization. Drum and Croaker 35:8-12.

i think it's ascorbic acid, and I could only find the reference, not the article.

Too bad we don't have Drum and Croaker at the local library.
 
Well folks, I went with Prime this time around...12 drops bleach in, 14 drops of prime before filling up a culture. I'm looking forward to see how my test run goes over the next couple days...hopefully the result is "AOK"!

Matt
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8411290#post8411290 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Kathy55g
Kingsley, E., S. Mansergh, J. Dreyer, R. Phillips. 2004.
Vitamin C, an alternative to sodium thiosulfate for
bleach neutralization. Drum and Croaker 35:8-12.

i think it's ascorbic acid, and I could only find the reference, not the article.

Too bad we don't have Drum and Croaker at the local library.
Click to expand...

Yes, yes, ascorbic :D

That's not the one though. I'll email David Cripe and see if he has it some place. He and I have talked about it a few times, but I never wrote anything down :(
 
I had trouble using Amquel Plus. Seemed to stunt my phyto growth. I have since switched to buying purified water as I am getting lazy these days and it seems to work well for me.
 
So, I've been doing the bleach sterilization and dechlorinating with Prime (the only thing I have on hand at the moment). So far I have to say results have been disappointing - I think the "Prime" may be stunting phyto growth just like Atticus was having with the Amquel - some of my cultures actually look crashed out.

So, what standard off the shelf product can I pick up at the LFS to use instead of PRIME that WON'T stunt the algae? In other words, what's the MOST BASIC dechlorinator on the market that will neutralize the bleach and leave the rest of the chemistry alone (I actually don't even bother dechlorinating when I mix up my saltwater normally, haven't had any problems to date).

Matt
 
Just get some straight sodium thiosulfate from a chemical supply company. It's what the pro's use ;)
 
But that wasn't the question guys ;) What can I pick up off the shelf at the LFS TODAY?!

Matt
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8466551#post8466551 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mwp
But that wasn't the question guys ;) What can I pick up off the shelf at the LFS TODAY?!

Matt
Click to expand...

Today, eh?

Look for the absolute cheapest no frills water conditioner. If it doesn't make wild claims about ammonia, heavy metals or slime coats than you likely have plain ol' sodium thiosulfate.
 
I forgot the name, but it comes in a yellow and blue bottle. It looks like ammo-lock, but it is a dechlorinator. I always laughed at people that bought it for freshwater, but now I have become one of those fools that looks all over for it when I need it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

S
Nutrient Export
Replies
0
Views
172
SantaMonica
S
wvned
My weir
Replies
6
Views
515
SantaMonica
S
S
Phosphate flow out of live rock
Replies
0
Views
766
SantaMonica
S
S
Nutrient Export
Replies
5
Views
709
wvned
wvned
R
Reseeding beneficial bacteria to sterilized tank - best approach?
Replies
6
Views
789
rallibon
R
Back
Top