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Sterilizing a heater? Bleach or PP?


jn

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Need to transferring a heater to a different tank.

Want to make sure there are no hitchhikers (parasites/ snails etc)...should I use bleach or potassium permanganate? Are there seals or plastic parts that would be adversly affected by either? (this is a newish jager heater). Thanks.

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why not find a container and boil your jug.. pour the hot water into the container and put your heater in it for a few mins

Hmm glass + boiling water isnt always a good mix....

In all honesty, unless you're having problems in the tank the heater has come from then I wouldn't worry.

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I'd be a bit shocked if the heaters glass wasn't something similar to pyrex. Which is the glass things like glass baking dishes, measuring cups etc are made out of. You can pour boiling water on them, bake them at 300° and they don't mind a bit.

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It was a cold tank that had flukes which is why I added the heater temporarily. I haven't seen symptoms in at least 3 weeks but I just want to be 100% sure. I've been disinfecting all my equipment before using it between tanks with PP. Fish in my other cold tank are a bit pale so wanted to warm them up a few degrees to see if its the cold snap we're having (they haven't been here through the coldest part of the winter so they could be unaccustomed to it!!) or if they've got something wrong with them too!

Ok.. so a bucket of water and run the heater at max for a while.. (and a wipe down of course) I'll make sure I let it cool before taking it out too!!

Thanks.

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Actually salt was what I decided to go with... salt and very hot water.

I ran the heater on max in a bucket of very salty water and then slowly added some boiling water to the bucket (being careful not to pour directly onto the glass). The very top of the heater was not submerged cause I was worried about the plastic and rubber.. but I gave that a good scrub with the water when it cooled enough to handle. I was probably being over cautious but treating fish gets expensive so a bit of prevention was well worth it if it saves me any other trouble!

The fish are thanking me for it. Obviously it was warmer at Wilson's place! The temp is set at 19 (they're cold water fish but presumably not acclimatised to VERY cold temps ie: 12-13 degs!) and they've gone from VERY pale to 100% normal! Phew :)

Thanks for your advice :hail:

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