# Sterlizing 1gal jugs



## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

I have a renewing supply of 1gal jugs very often. I would like to know what is the mL dose of bleach needed to sterlize 1gal of water? I'm trying to clean the containers. 

I've got a dropper in 1mL rating divided into 4 sub measurements IIRC. 

Just wondering what the min dose needed make sure all the foriegn matter is clean. I've rinsed the jugs before. The jugs were from a soy beverage. I used to use something like 1 cup of bleach and soak for a day then rinsed it out good then drop 4 times Prime in but thinking back now that probably was way way over kill and wasting a lot of bleach. 

Also what is the soak time needed for sterlization of the jugs? What about gravel and clay balls soak sterlization time?

Thanks in advance.


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## WiyRay (Jan 11, 2009)

That probably is overkill... after all, it was just soy. We drink the stuff so it can't be all that harmful unless soy is deadly to fish somehow that I don't know about. 

I use a bunch of V8 jugs to age the water for the next wc. Next to rinsing it out thoroughly, I never really did anything more and so far it is working out quite well.

Frankly, the only time you should be worried is if the jug held poison or something. But at that point, I don't think anyone would consider using it. I would probably be more worried about the bleach in the jug than the soy too.


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## PPulcher (Nov 17, 2006)

When I was homebrewing beer, the recipe was 1/2 cup of bleach to 5 US gallons of water to santizie clean glassware.


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## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

WiyRay said:


> That probably is overkill... after all, it was just soy. We drink the stuff so it can't be all that harmful unless soy is deadly to fish somehow that I don't know about.
> 
> I use a bunch of V8 jugs to age the water for the next wc. Next to rinsing it out thoroughly, I never really did anything more and so far it is working out quite well.
> 
> Frankly, the only time you should be worried is if the jug held poison or something. But at that point, I don't think anyone would consider using it. I would probably be more worried about the bleach in the jug than the soy too.


Well I just bleach it just in case. True if a container contained something that is food grade safe and for human consumption then yes it can be used for fish as something I learned from the Aquaponics side of things. However I just wanted the jugs clean that's all. Yah 1 cup is a bit much I'd say. Tho if I was really worried and paranoid I'd dose the container with 10x Prime dose for 1gal of water but I've always found 4x to be a safe number as I always rinse the jugs after bleaching and give it another soak and rinse before using it.


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## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

Ok so what dose should I do per gal if I wanted to sterlize the jugs (also thinking as well for fish tank sterlizing as well but using the 1gal jug formula)?

5mL of bleach per 1gal? Some help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.


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## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

Bump for 1 gal formula.


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## bae (May 11, 2007)

Just wash the soy milk jugs in cold water to clean them, then if you've just got to sterilize them (why?) rinse them with boiling water.

There's not much point in aging water before using it for water changes, since municipal water usually contains chloramine, not chlorine, these days, and chloramine doesn't dissipate as chlorine does.

As for gravel and clay balls, I would never use bleach. The clay balls are porous and you'll never get all the bleach out. If you've just got to sterilize this stuff, boil it.

A healthy aquarium is full of all kinds of harmless and beneficial microbes. Your tap water has been disinfected before it gets to you. Do you soak your toothbrush in bleach before you use it? It's the same thing -- your toothbrush has a small amount of the same bacteria that your mouth is packed full of.


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## WiyRay (Jan 11, 2009)

I dunno about putting boiling water into plastic containers... the whole melting plastic releasing chemical fiasco is just a whole bunch of other problems... I would stick with bleach. 

I still age water and add prime before water changes, in the hopes that the prime won't need to deal with chlorine and be more focused on the chloramine. Of course, that's just in my head. 

Here's an idea. Remember that bleach trick for BBA? Use that as a comparison for killing bacteria and such. 

Try different mixtures of bleach + water and see how fast the BBA turns white/transparent when dipping it in there. 

If you feel it takes too long for the bleach to kill the BBA, use more bleach. If it instantly turns white/transparent, you can probably dilute it some more.


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