Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I was driving past and noticed a sign saying "free 200L barrels" so i poped in to check it out.

It was called something like cambell brothers, it was on the corner of maritime road and bedford street in gillman/port adelaide.

They have prob around 65, used for different chemicals.

I picked one up that had chlorine antiseptic in it. I am going to try and clean it to use. Any suggestions on the best way to remove chemical residue?

To test whether they are clean enough, i have some sacrificial glass shrimp, that are very sensitive to chemicals, so if they die i will clean it more. And test again

Daniel, AM described how he washed out his IBC's, try reading through his system topics (or wait til he comes on )

If it had chlorine dioxide in it cleaning will be rether easy (this is because it is not deadly in small amounts to us - after all, many mouth washes use the same stuff in their composition)

hydrogen peroxide has been used on may occasions to neutralise chlorine compounds - so thi might be an option for you..

When I cleaned my IBC's I scrubbed them with an environmentally friendly dish detergent, then soaked them in chlorine bath, then in a water bath (for a few days), then rinsed well and aired for a week... and my fish are all happy - what is important is knowing EXACTLY what was in it so as to neutralise it propperly.

Thanks EllkayBee, and aquamad. I remembered reading somewhere how someone cleaned out the ICB's but i couldn't find where.

as on what was exactly in it, on the top it said:

ISA BIOX843 12.5%
PCX 6020200

well this meaned nothing to me so i googled ISA BIOX843 12.5%
and got this site http://www.affa.gov.au/corporate_docs/p ... pounds.pdf

it says it is in the categories:
Retort Water treatment, sanitiser/detergent and Acid cleaner.

But considering that page is a list of chemicals used to prepare meat and meat products for the purpose of export, i think after a good clean (as described in Aquamads post above) it should definately be safe to use

yep, and always, do it in a WELL ventalated area - just to be safe!
Some people have found nasty surprises in their barrels when cutting them open, so be watchful!

lol. will definately do it in a well ventilated area. When i opened it i got a nice whif of it, but it looked clean (of dirt, bugs, etc)

Yeah I was lucky to find barrels that held alcohol before i got to them. I just ended up smelling like a boozer for the rest of the day after cutting em open.