Bleach vs Acid

It would be nice to have a message board software that had a 'thread summary sticky' that would act like a wiki on threads that grow in size, but contain good info spread out across many pages.

So in summary, to have clean rock follow this HIGHLY unscientific method:

1 part bleach to 10 parts water, soak for 24-48 hours, checking for diluted strength over time.

1 part acid to 10 parts water, soak for at least 2 hours?

Rinse in RO with dechlorinator a few times

Rinse in RO

Dry out in the sun for a 7 day period

Viola?

Please correct where I'm wrong if you so choose.
 
Banzai75x - thats what I always used 10 parts water to 1 part acid.

Genj - thats the gist of it. Every now and then I put out a summary update of what we've all learned. Im not sure how scientific or unscientific this should be, but I will choose to correct you a bit tho -

- bleach can be stronger IMO than 10:1. I've usually done 3:1.

- acid soaking time varies, depending on how much phosphate you have on your rock. and know way of measuring that as far as I know. First time i soaked for 30-60 seconds and it dint work. Last time I soaked for 30 mins and I've recently learned that didnt work. No idea if soaking longer will work either.

- simple rinse in RO and let soak in the sun until it doesnt smell. Really the acid will get rid of the chlorine when its dipped.
 
Well I went through this process and re-scaped my tank a week and a half ago and I am completely satisfied with the outcome. I was a little apprehensive about using the acid so I opted for staight vinegar. I went to Costco and bought 12-4 liter (1 gallon) jugs and soaked the rock in the vinegar overnight and did five rinses in RO, two rinses with dechlorinator. I checked it against the rock I had cooked previously and both smelled just like the ocean.
 
I really hope to do a full update shortly. My most recent attempt has failed so it would be good to document what we've all learned on here. Hey....maybe I'll do it now?
 
FWIW, a lot of the details for these sorts of procedures were just made up on the fly, so there is proably nothing magic about the times, concentrations, temperatures, etc. :)
 
RHF - very true :-) and good point.


So, when talking about rock that has been cleaned with bleach and acid and for all intents 'dead' rock. It may still have phosphate.

Is it correct to assume that i can "pull" all of the phosphate out of the rock by letting it sit in clean RODI SW, periodically doing water changes?

Or may some LR be too far gone?

I ask this b/c I think this is where I am. two tries with this and my rock is still causing excessive phosphate in my tank. I have @ 250 pounds of it sitting in a 100g stock rubbermaid tub.

If there's too much of a phosphate layer on the rock to dissolve it with acid, is it even possible to pull it out of the rock naturally?
 
You may pull of substantial amounts, but it may take a very long time to be "completed". I just do not know how rapidly such layers will all come off. Acid speeds the process hugely. Like how much it speeds cleaning of calcium carbonate deposits from pumps, etc.
 
I have not had a tank set up for about 2 years. I saved all my rock from my last tank knowing I would eventually want to set up again. Before I stored it in a rubbermaid container, I did the acid and bleach soaks and let it dry out in the sun. It has been in storage ever since, in North Dakota...hot summer, freezing winters.

I am going to set up a tank soon and got my rock out. It is very white and clean looking. A couple rocks faintly smell like bleach....is this possible or am I just being paranoid? They should be OK to add to a new tank, right?
I found a picture of my rocks drying out on my deck..
Thanks,
Casey
 

Attachments

  • May.jpg
    May.jpg
    76.6 KB · Views: 10
The rocks will be fine in a tank. You could add a dechlorinator if you're worried about bleach. I probably would.
 
i ask because im in the process to start to take my tank down for a few reasons. my goal is to drain it clean it, re do it in about 48hours. its a 220 BB, im putting sand in it. ive been battleing high nitrates and a slight cyno outbreak on 5-6 rocks. im pulling everthing out and doing a foam DIY rock back wall but will re use all my current rock in the tank, but i dont wanna put infested rock back in the tank so what are some of my options to kill the algea?
corey
 
Soaking rock in an acid will dissolve away the outer surface, and any substantial impurities that coat the rock, such as phosphate or copper. The intent is not algae killing, although that certainly happens too.
 
biecacka said:
i keep seeing some ppl say they soak them in vinegar, what does this do?
corey
Click to expand...

I had a major hair algae problem going on. The algae was thick and hard to pull off and it was everywhere, choking off corals and rocks. Phosphates were reading 0.5 and nitrates were at 50-60. I finally decided to cook half my 250 pounds to begin with. This took 5 months. When I was done I didn't want to spend another 5 months doing the second half so I tried bleach and vinegar baths. I soaked the rock in a 10-1 RO water-bleach solution followed by several RO water rinses. Afterwards I soaked it in a pure vinegar bath. The rock fizzed like alka seltzer for about 90 minutes but I left it in the vinegar for 24 hours and followed that with more RO water rinses along with a dechlorinator. I didn't want to deal with acid so I tried the vinegar approach and it worked well for me. That was about two months ago now and I only have a slight greening of my bleached rock and no uncontrollable algae outbreak. My cooked rock has no algae growing on it at all. Phosphates and nitrates are both at 0.
 
so if i have a slight out break of cyno on my rocks which method would work best for me. will the vinegar work? how long b4 it can go back in my tank and what needs to be done for it to be ready to do so
corey
 
If you only have a slight outbreak of cyano on your rocks then maybe this process would be overkill for you. I see you have high nitrates. What is your phosphate reading? If you only have cyano on 5 or 6 rocks did these get bought at the same time? Were they polluted when you bought them? I ask because if you had a real problem it seems to me the problem wouldn't be restricted to just some rocks, it would be all over your tank.

If you choose to go ahead with the process the bleach is intended to kill organic life like algae. The acid/vinegar process will etch off a layer of your rock which contains phosphates. Acid needs to be diluted 10-1 with water. If this makes you uncomfortable then use straight vinegar. At that dilution both will be about as strong. The acid is cheaper but the vinegar is safer IMO. Then you rinse thoroughly with RO water and let air dry for several days.
 
they werernt bought at the same time and they are in lower flow areas of the tank. im not sure y its only on a few rocks but i want to rid the tank of them. maybe a good scrubbin w a brush?
corey
 
Low flow areas can definitely be an area where cyano will grow. It sounds like that may be your solution. Seeing as you did say you had high nitrates though I would test to be sure. If you have high nitrates and phosphates you might need to do more.
 
This has been a very informative thread. I just pulled out about 25-30 lbs of rock and am currently soaking it in bleach. It was infested with tons of very invasive algae that I just couldn't get rid of. It belongs in my nano cube that has my corals still in it. I have a second cube that I could put the rock in to 'recycle' it before adding it back to the tank with the corals. Is this what I should do? How long should I wait before adding it back?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

W
Cycling new Tank
Replies
2
Views
358
C.Eymann
C.Eymann
W
Potential 65G
Replies
17
Views
862
griss
griss
DjPhato
90gal reef cycling
Replies
8
Views
1K
griss
griss
M
Hydrogen Peroxide Dip Killed a lot of my frags!... Different strength okay?
Replies
4
Views
1K
BlueOcean168
B
S
Phosphate flow out of live rock
Replies
0
Views
696
SantaMonica
S
Back
Top