Just remember effective disinfection REQUIRES cleaning first. Scrub the tank and products with soap and water thoroughly before disinfection. Other wise there is no point to disinfecting in the first place.

Some points on bleach as a disinfectant that maybe useful...

"If used for disinfecting purposes Bleach should NOT be stored longer than 3 months. When mixed with water the solution is only effective as a disinfectant for 24 hours."
clorox company information

"Surfaces must be pre-cleaned."

"...all disinfectants require pre-cleaning. Best practices recommend cleaning first and then disinfecting for optimal efficiency."

A. Culver, M. Feinberg et.al. Cleaning for Health Products and Practices for a Safer Indoor Environment.


Effective disinfection will insure that you are passing nothing from one animal to another. The really scary part is a new study has concluded that improper disinfection not only leads to disinfectant resistance but ALSO antibiotic resistance even where no antibiotics were introduced. (the test bacteria, is one of the causes of sepsis in people and animals)

NUI Galway research article Jan 2009 of Microbiology

Bleach 1:10 needs ten full mins of WET contact time to work.