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I wanted to document this entire process, explain how to do it and what to expect to achieve from doing it. Reading this thread will provide some background info.
First off, you cannot expect to achieve complete sterilization from dosing chlorine into a QT. Eradicating Ich (Cryptocaryon) tomonts, for example, requires maintaining 60 mg/L chlorine for 24 hours (source here - Table 2); but that seems difficult to achieve. Also, I think using that much chlorine could damage equipment/pumps used in a QT.
So the concentration I am shooting for with this experiment is 10ppm (or mg/L). According to this source that should be good enough to reduce most bacteria, protozoa and virus populations by 99.99%. What I'm most concerned with is heterotrophic bacteria building up in a long-term QT. These bacteria use organic carbon as a food source and thus, will biodegrade most medications (excluding copper) if their populations are left unchecked. (My rationale for believing this can be found here.) So the goal is to knock them back periodically by hammering these bacteria with chlorine. Instead of having to break down & sterilize (via drying) a long-term QT from time to time.
With this in mind, I've setup a 10 gal QT with all the usual equipment (photo below - removed some water to avoid bleach splashing out of the tank). This morning @ 9am I dosed 1/4 cup of regular liquid bleach (8.25% sodium hypochlorite) to achieve 10ppm chlorine. (Actually, just slightly higher than 10ppm.) This turned the QT cloudy and slightly yellow. I will continue to test the chlorine level every 8 hrs to see how long it takes for it to fully evaporate. And then drop a damsel in for good measure. I will also examine all QT equipment in a week or two to ensure no damage has been done from the chlorine.
Monday @ 9am: >10ppm chlorine
Monday @ 3pm: >10ppm chlorine (+6 hrs)
Tuesday @ 12am: >10ppm chlorine (+15 hrs)
Tuesday @ 10am: >10ppm chlorine (+25 hrs)
Wednesday @ 10am: >10ppm chlorine (+49 hrs)
Thursday @ 1pm: >10ppm chlorine (+76 hrs)
Friday @ 1pm: >10ppm chlorine (+100 hrs)
Saturday @ 1pm: >10ppm chlorine (+124 hrs)
Monday @ 1pm: 10ppm chlorine (+172 hrs) (1 week, 4 hrs)
Wednesday @ 1pm: 8ppm chlorine (+220 hrs)
Friday @ 1pm: 3ppm chlorine (+268 hrs)
Saturday @ 3pm: 2ppm chlorine (+294 hrs)
Sunday @ 3pm: 0.5ppm chlorine (+318 hrs)
Monday @ 2pm: NO DETECTABLE CHLORINE (+341 hrs) (2 weeks, 5 hrs)
First off, you cannot expect to achieve complete sterilization from dosing chlorine into a QT. Eradicating Ich (Cryptocaryon) tomonts, for example, requires maintaining 60 mg/L chlorine for 24 hours (source here - Table 2); but that seems difficult to achieve. Also, I think using that much chlorine could damage equipment/pumps used in a QT.
So the concentration I am shooting for with this experiment is 10ppm (or mg/L). According to this source that should be good enough to reduce most bacteria, protozoa and virus populations by 99.99%. What I'm most concerned with is heterotrophic bacteria building up in a long-term QT. These bacteria use organic carbon as a food source and thus, will biodegrade most medications (excluding copper) if their populations are left unchecked. (My rationale for believing this can be found here.) So the goal is to knock them back periodically by hammering these bacteria with chlorine. Instead of having to break down & sterilize (via drying) a long-term QT from time to time.
With this in mind, I've setup a 10 gal QT with all the usual equipment (photo below - removed some water to avoid bleach splashing out of the tank). This morning @ 9am I dosed 1/4 cup of regular liquid bleach (8.25% sodium hypochlorite) to achieve 10ppm chlorine. (Actually, just slightly higher than 10ppm.) This turned the QT cloudy and slightly yellow. I will continue to test the chlorine level every 8 hrs to see how long it takes for it to fully evaporate. And then drop a damsel in for good measure. I will also examine all QT equipment in a week or two to ensure no damage has been done from the chlorine.
Monday @ 9am: >10ppm chlorine
Monday @ 3pm: >10ppm chlorine (+6 hrs)
Tuesday @ 12am: >10ppm chlorine (+15 hrs)
Tuesday @ 10am: >10ppm chlorine (+25 hrs)
Wednesday @ 10am: >10ppm chlorine (+49 hrs)
Thursday @ 1pm: >10ppm chlorine (+76 hrs)
Friday @ 1pm: >10ppm chlorine (+100 hrs)
Saturday @ 1pm: >10ppm chlorine (+124 hrs)
Monday @ 1pm: 10ppm chlorine (+172 hrs) (1 week, 4 hrs)
Wednesday @ 1pm: 8ppm chlorine (+220 hrs)
Friday @ 1pm: 3ppm chlorine (+268 hrs)
Saturday @ 3pm: 2ppm chlorine (+294 hrs)
Sunday @ 3pm: 0.5ppm chlorine (+318 hrs)
Monday @ 2pm: NO DETECTABLE CHLORINE (+341 hrs) (2 weeks, 5 hrs)
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