Bleach vs Acid
- Thread starter bheron
- Start date
CoquiFish
New member
Just wanted to thanks everyone who contributed to this. We have setup our 220 Gallon and cleared out the livestock from the cube to the big tank a long time ago. Left the cube tank cycling for a long time with out any attention so need to clean up the rock before moving it over to the large tank. This thread is awesome, pick up bleach and Muriatic Acid, going to clean it up starting today. Thanks for all the great information!
reefgeezer
Active member
I just did the bleach & acid process. It works very well. All my past sins have beem erased and I have super clean white rock now.
A word of warning: Allow room in the vessel for quite a bit of foaming and bubbling when using the acid & keep some baking soda handy in case it foams over.
I added water to the vessel, piled in the rocks, and then added the acid. I think this caused some excess foaming. However, I don't know if if it would be different if the rocks were added to a premixed water/acid solution. Maybe someone who has done it that way could chime in.
A word of warning: Allow room in the vessel for quite a bit of foaming and bubbling when using the acid & keep some baking soda handy in case it foams over.
I added water to the vessel, piled in the rocks, and then added the acid. I think this caused some excess foaming. However, I don't know if if it would be different if the rocks were added to a premixed water/acid solution. Maybe someone who has done it that way could chime in.
blide
Premium Member
Just thought I would thank everyone for their informative posts.
I did the bleach then acid (HCL) bath.
Bleached for 24hrs -> rinsed and air dry for 48hrs
Acid Dip - 10% solution (High Purity HCL)
Rinse - Then a short soak in high alk (baking soda) solution to neutralize acid.
Oh and don't forget to use PPE when messing with this stuff!
Just thought I would post an update. Treating my rock is still the best course of action I've ever taken in setting up a tank. It's years later and my rock is still prestine!
Here's my build thread:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1980384&page=10
And a pic from this week:
Fishyoga
New member
Not sure if this question has been answered or not....
If all you want to do is dissolve some organic matter from your sand, wash it with Hydrogen Peroxide. Standard drugstore strength will do. You will know if it's working because it will bubble as it slowly dissolves stuff. It will not eat away the sand, rock, shell fragments, or exoskeletons. Also long as you don't have any open cuts, it's relatively harmless to your skin.
Always follow the instructions on the bottle for your personal protection though.
It is slower, but I don't know how long folks usually run it for. A lot of this is guess work anyway, but an hour or two might be fine, depending on how much material one wanted to actually remove.
fishtk75
New member
Randy I do not know as to how much needs to be removed as to make sure it is
clean and safe to put back in the tank.
It is still guesswork, but leaving it overnight might also be OK. 
percula99
New member
I used vinegar. As Randy said, a couple of hours worked for me. I put my rock in a large container and slowly poured the vinegar over it. It started to foam up immediately and it did so for a couple of hours. Once it stopped and I was satisfied nothing more would happen I gave it several rinses in RO water and left it for days on my back deck to dry in the sun.
fishtk75
New member
It is still guesswork, but leaving it overnight might also be OK.
Thank you
:thumbsup:
Good luck.
Good luck.
tmantaylor18
Active member
My buckets should be fine for mixing salt even after using it for the acid bath correct?
jay13
New member
It is still guesswork, but leaving it overnight might also be OK.
I bleached my rock, power washed it with fresh water, soaked it in prime and fresh water for days and then soaked it in white vinegar overnight. Overnight in pure vinegar is too long, it starts to eat too much of the rock. Based on what my rock did I would assume that 4-6 hours would be plenty in the pure vinegar bath.
PalmDesert
New member
What happened to the old way of using small amounts of vinegar in a 5 - 10 gal tub, letting it soak overnight and rinsing with tap water very well? The rinsing process takes a large amount of clean water. If cleaning rock, soak to rinse the rock over several days, changing with frequent water changes. I have been doing this for over 7 years and have had no problems.
I have been doing this for over 7 years
FWIW, the thread started 5 years ago, and at that time I suggested using acid if the goal was removal of copper or phosphate. I'm not sure things have changed since then. It is still the procedure we generally recommend, although muriatic acid is also a good choice of acid.
FWIW, the thread started 5 years ago, and at that time I suggested using acid if the goal was removal of copper or phosphate. I'm not sure things have changed since then. It is still the procedure we generally recommend, although muriatic acid is also a good choice of acid.
SurlyT
Member
Lots of good info here - thanks to everyone who's contributed.
My issue is dinoflagellates, which I assume are everywhere throughout my system. I won't derail the thread with the number of things I've tried to beat them; suffice it to say that nothing has worked and I'm now at the point where nuking the tank won't be a big sacrifice. All livestock has long since been removed, so I want to sterilize everything in place without dismantling any of it.
Is there any reason I should not add bleach directly to the tank? Does bleach have any affect on acrylic or PVC?
Can I add the bleach to the existing saltwater, or should I replace it with freshwater first? It doesn't seem like this is necessary since I'd be draining afterwards anyway, but it can't hurt to ask.
Sorry if these are dumb questions, but I didn't see them answered elsewhere in this thread. Thanks in advance.
My issue is dinoflagellates, which I assume are everywhere throughout my system. I won't derail the thread with the number of things I've tried to beat them; suffice it to say that nothing has worked and I'm now at the point where nuking the tank won't be a big sacrifice. All livestock has long since been removed, so I want to sterilize everything in place without dismantling any of it.
Is there any reason I should not add bleach directly to the tank? Does bleach have any affect on acrylic or PVC?
Can I add the bleach to the existing saltwater, or should I replace it with freshwater first? It doesn't seem like this is necessary since I'd be draining afterwards anyway, but it can't hurt to ask.
Sorry if these are dumb questions, but I didn't see them answered elsewhere in this thread. Thanks in advance.
I've used chlorine bleach directly in a tank before. I do think you will need to remove everything inside the tank and bleach it separately. Since you're going to have to do that and drain the tank anyway, why not drain first, fill with tap water and bleach, let it sit (with a couple of pumps circulating) for hours to a day, then remove the water, refill with fresh water and add dechlorinator. I would get a pool water test kit from wall mart (test strips) to check that you've removed all of the chlorine. Then I would drain the tank and let it dry completely before reusing. The rocks you will need to nuke, obviously, as well as clean and sterilize all of your equipment. I would rinse and scrub, and let it stew with circulation and a high concentration of bleach (I've used up to 50%) to make sure the buggers are out of the pores in the rock and the hidden areas of the pumps, heaters, etc. Tubing gets thrown out. Manual cleaning is a must as biofilm builds up on all surfaces and is remarkably resistant to many chemicals.
Dinos are nasty. Good luck.
Dinos are nasty. Good luck.
bheron
Active member
Ok, I've just performed this task again after my tank crashed during the winter snow storm we had back here on the east coast. Its taken me awhile but I soaked the rock in a water-bleach solution for a long time (a few months, not in purpose just didnt have the time). then drained and rinsed and soaked in a water-acid solution for a day or so. Finally I rinsed the rock with a garden hose, let dry outside for a day, then put into a 100g tub of RODI.
After a few days I tested the water and found:
1) Nitrates @25ppm
2) Phosphate .09
Wow. I can understand the phosphate but am totally shocked to find Nitrate in this water. To recap, the rock sat in bleach/water from say March - July. Figured nothing was left alive. Then soaked for 24 hrs in water/acid.
Any ideas why I would see Nitrate at this stage?
After a few days I tested the water and found:
1) Nitrates @25ppm
2) Phosphate .09
Wow. I can understand the phosphate but am totally shocked to find Nitrate in this water. To recap, the rock sat in bleach/water from say March - July. Figured nothing was left alive. Then soaked for 24 hrs in water/acid.
Any ideas why I would see Nitrate at this stage?
