Acid washing rock

[majormaz]

How long should I let the rock sit in an acid bath?

 

[Timfish]

I wouldn't acid wash rock. I use a fair amount of local limestone and I've been happy just hosing it off well. I would also use some guality maricultured rock to help establish sponges and other microbial stuff that can't be cultured and bottled but are essential for helathy microbiomes.

 

[majormaz]

The rock came from an existing system with lots of algae. You wouldn’t recommend acid washing it to start fresh?

 

[Habib]

Freshwater will kill a lot of stuff including algae

 

[reefing102]

Agreed with the above. I wouldn’t acid wash. Hosing it off or even freshwater bath should be fine. If you want, could even “cook” the rock. I don’t mean boiling but essentially storing in a bucket in the dark - see video below for more info

 

[sculpin2]

If there's lots of dead stuff on the rock, bleach is better than acid (followed by a RODI soak + dechlorinator like Seachem Prime).