Stupid question

[LizStreithorst]

How much Clorox to sterilize a 60 gallon tank?

[ilroost]

I always use i part bleach to 10 parts water for cleaning and sterilizing.
Not sure if it is correct, but has worked through the years for me

[BillT]

I always use i part bleach to 10 parts water for cleaning and sterilizing.

This would certainly kill most troublesome things if soaked long enough.

Different things will be killed by different levels of bleach. Most things will be killed fairly easily, but somethings like mycobacterium or microsporidian spores will require longer and/or stronger exposures.
Also the longer something is in bleach the less is needed to kill it.
I also use bleach for cleaning purposes, that is it is an oxidizer and will chemically break down a lot of organic chemical which has the benefit of removing them as dirt. This works better with more bleach or longer exposures.

When I clean a tank I will often pour in some bleach and leave it out in the driveway, over night. The sun will also help kill things. The suns UV rays will also help kill things.

[LizStreithorst]

Thanks Bill.  10 to 1 was what I had in my mind but 6 gallons of bleach just seemed like so much!  I've used PP in the past but I'm out of it.  Now I have an excuse to drive my old shiny truck into town.

[BillT]

I have not used PP much. I have a friend in town who uses it a lot and likes it, but I have not developed a feel for using and use bleach a lot instead.

They are both oxidizers.

Other chemical options for killing stuff would include
? extreme high salt (a saturated solution of rock salt) and
? iodine solutions (like used on fish eggs in fish nurseries).

I am trying out the salt for treating some HMF sponges and the iodine for nets (which do not like high/long bleach treatments.