What's going to happen chemically if i bleach and vinegar a

[monkeyboy]

The subject says it all, if i bleach and vinegar my overflow in a bucket what will happen? I just thought i'd ask before i try it, i would assume something would happen though...

Anyone? Anyone? Wheres Randy?!

TIA

 

[sally1]

Why bleach and vinegar..and just not vinegar alone? If you are trying to clean the overflow just soak it in white vinegar it will come clean..no need for bleach.

 

[BReefCase]

Bad idea! Never mix Chlorine Bleach with anything but plain water.

Grocery store Chlorine Bleach is really just an aqueous solution of Sodium Hypochlorite (NaOCL). Adding an acid like Acetic Acid (Vinegar) will potentially produce NaOH (Sodium Hydroxide) + Chlorine gas -- poisonous to breathe.

Actually, there's not much real danger because bleach is only about 5.25% NaOCL and Vinegar is only 5% acid, so the reaction will be pretty weak and it would take a lot of liquid reacted in a small enclosed space to cause any real trouble -- but why bother? You won't gain any cleaning power. Just use Vinegar alone.

By the way -- mixing Chlorine Bleach with Ammonia is a REALLY bad idea -- the resulting Chloramine gas is a lung blister agent, one of the crudest battlefield poison gases, and was used both in WWI and again more recently in the Iran/Iraq war.

 

[monkeyboy]

sally, i'm not really sure. I've always bleached before, the algae just flakes off. I vinegar to take care of the stubborn coralline, i think that just vinegar would take too long. But hey, i may be wrong so i'll try just vinegar next time.

BReefCase, thanks for the info. I don't know i always bleach first!!! Ahhhh!

thanks!

 

[Greg3333]

In a nutshell: Mustard gas

Mixing a chlorinated product with an acid produces mustard gas. It's the first thing I train employees on when they start working sanitation for me.

Granted my chemicals are quite a bit stronger and the health hazard posed is far greater. However . . .