Did I Just Do Something Stupid

[sillynecco]

I am in the process of changing my freshwater tank into a sw tank. I was told that it was ok to put a little bleach in my water and cycle it through, (just the tank full of water, no fish, substrate, rocks). I was told this would make it good to go for sw fish, just make sure everything is rinsed really well. I let it run with nothing in it at all, and in about a week the water turned a lil murky... normal?
Here is what my tank filter looks like. im rather new to this so im not sure what i have or dont have.
If someone out there could tell me, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[sillynecco]

Another thing was filters were pretty dark, should i hose them out until they are white? or are they dark for a good reason. Or am I an idiot

 

[ophiura]

You used bleach or pure ammonia???
Have you tested the water?
That is a tidepool filter. The three trays are for filter pads whatever...the big wheel is a large biowheel and should NEVER be rinsed in anything but old tank water or dechlorinated saltwater. Never freshwater, and never tap water. It is where bacteria will grow.

 

[sillynecco]

i used bleach, the wheel was in the freshwater tank setup when i got it.... best to just leave it alone?

 

[chamic1]

your screwed IMO The biowheel has to be replaced, the filters should be replaced if they are anything but sponge, and if you can smell any hint of bleach, you used too much. I would never use bleach IMO. Get rid of all the bleach water and just run a lot of fresh tap water through the entire system to flush it out. After that, let it air dry and put some sand, and live rock to start the cycle, with saltwater. Test the water regularly and hope for the best!

 

[jedi]

If you are changing form a FW to Sw, then you are ok.
You needed to replace the bio-wheel anyway.
Get all new filter medieum, and a new Bio-wheel. Before you put the filter and wheel in the tidepool, thouroughly rince the filter, tank, etc. use a scrub pad to go over the ******** of the tank, and filter. use a bleach/water solution to clean the tank and filter.
After you clean out the tank and fliter and have rinced it really realy well, then you can put it all together ad put your bio-wheel, and filter media back in the tidepool.
Then fill the tank, and cylce the tank.
After you cycle the tank (4-6 weeks) I would change out the filters, but not the bio-wheel.
good luck
Jedi

 

[ophiura]

Ah, I see, this is a cleaning sort of thing?? I misread it and thought you might have been cycling with it (which is why I asked about ammonia, which is what you can cycle with). Well, IMO, running the whole tank with bleach/water was overkill, IMO.
You do not need to "change" or replace any biowheel, IMO, unless you didn't use pure bleach but scented stuff or stuff with other things in it. If that is the case, then it is a different issue. Otherwise it is just a disinfected biowheel.
Bleach is used in this hobby but primarily to bleach decor and plants. It is then rinsed very well, and dechlorinator added to remove any potential excess chlorine that remains.
So everything in that system is now dead and disinfected, no worries there. But I would suggest rinsing everything off really well. Drain everything and rinse rinse rinse. As I am paranoid I would rinse rinse rinse some more (but that is me) and then add a good amount of dechlorinator but I imagine by now much of the bleach has "decomposed" if you will and there probably wasn't a lot to begin with. I am not sure how long that takes but bleach does "decompose" into something, water and sodium chloride (anyway, harmless) but I am not sure how long it takes.
I don't know if the intent was to keep the bleach etc running for a week...I think maybe just to clean everything. I don't understand it myself, but I don't think you are "screwed." I used to bleach decor, drain it off, rinse, add dechlorinator and put things right back into a tank. Don't see why this would be different.
The issue with using unknown and potentially freshwater equipment is generally the "big unknown" whether medications such as copper were used in the system. That could in theory become an issue, though in practice I am not as sure.

 

[sillynecco]

thanks for the heads up.... im not starting the tank until sept, when i move into my new place. i think from this point on i will run water through it and completely change the water every week for the next 8 weeks.
heres a question...... if i am gonna set up my tank in sept, is there anything i can do now to start? should i replace all filters and the bio wheel and get some dechlorinated saltwater runnin through there, or should i just wait it out?
the stuff i used was scented i belive.... but i only put in about 2 cups tops for 75 gallons. im not sure if that is a lot or not.... didnt really smell any bleach, but i could be wrong.
so what do you think?

 

[ophiura]

What is the product you used?
I am not sure how easy or cheap it is to get a new biowheel. If you had used plain bleach it wouldn't be a great concern to me to replace it. But if not plain bleach then that could be more of an issue. I'm just not sure. I don't recommend bothering with trying to get anything started until you move, especially with the current issue. When you move just drain the water out and move it and start new.
When you move, try to use RO water and not tap water. It just addresses some potential problems before they start. Tap water isn't great to use in tanks. Not always terrible, but it can limit some of what you keep.

 

[trainfever]

You could try rinsing everything in chlorine remover.