If the water has a pH of 7 or higher, it is OK fairly quickly. Maybe add some baking soda or other buffer if it is a bit low.
Bleach vs Acid
- Thread starter bheron
- Start date
Reef_Matrix29
Water Lover
Great thread, lots of information, but forgive me if I overlooked the answer to my question if it was stated already. I'm planning on bleaching/acid washing my rocks this weekend to help mostly with aiptasia and bubble algae, but my other concern is that I have aiptasia in my internal overflow box. I have the AGA style with the inner chamber, so is it safe to do a 1:10 bleach solution in the DT tank once all fish, corals, inverts are removed of course? Will the bleach affect the integrity of the silicone? Would it be better to do a 1:10 of HCl in the tank instead?
If either of these chemicals aren't silicone safe, what do you suggest to run, concentration and period of time to kill any lingering organic pest in the empty tank until the rocks are ready to go back in? Thanks so much and this thread is a great wealth of information too!
If either of these chemicals aren't silicone safe, what do you suggest to run, concentration and period of time to kill any lingering organic pest in the empty tank until the rocks are ready to go back in? Thanks so much and this thread is a great wealth of information too!
sahin
Ultimate Reefer
Vinegar and RODI water is a safer option. Plus it will get all the coralline algae off as well.
My tank had Dinos and lots of Vermatid Snails and a few aips and one or two valonoa bubble algae so I filled up my display and sump with RODI water and then poured 4 litres of Vinegar (tank is about 180 litres total). After a few hours this will have killed everything. I then got a stiff plastic bristled brush and scrubed the whole tank. Be careful around the silicone.
The tank looks brand new/sparkling clean and no old coralline algae anywhere. I cant see how the Dinos/bubble algae etc etc can survive 5'C RODI water with Vinegar dissolving everything.
If you use Bleach then you must make sure you properly rinse the tank out and then add some dechlorinator and then rinse again. I have no idea what effect if any that bleach will have on the Silicone.
Perhaps Randy will let us now? -
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I would not expect bleach to hurt silicone in the time and concentration needed to kill aiptasia, but you might test it on a noncritical object first.
Reef_Matrix29
Water Lover
Okay, I'm thinking that if using the Vinegar is a safer option to the bleach or HCl, I will go with that, but since it's a weaker acid, should I do something stronger than 1:10 for the purposes of killing that aiptasia? I was planning on running this for about 4 - 6 hours during the day if that will be long enough and then draining the tank until the rocks are ready to go back over the next few days.
I'm only keeping the fish and cleaner shrimp out of my tank, all corals, snails and crabs will be traded/sold to help truly limit any existing infestation from coming back into the tank once I begin the SLOW restock in the coming weeks.
I'm only keeping the fish and cleaner shrimp out of my tank, all corals, snails and crabs will be traded/sold to help truly limit any existing infestation from coming back into the tank once I begin the SLOW restock in the coming weeks.
It kills anything alive, but won't necessarily remove it as well as bleach does by breaking it down and dissolving it.
:thumbsup:
Happy Reefing.
Happy Reefing.
I put some rocks on muriatic acid bath to remove copper. I did 2 baths for 20 minutes each because I know the rocks were on a tank that was treated with copper. I want to ask you if there is a way to know for sure if the rock does not have any more copper.
Does a copper test (salifert or seachem) would work, or the minimum levels these tests detect are still too high? Thank you
Does a copper test (salifert or seachem) would work, or the minimum levels these tests detect are still too high? Thank you
The SeaChem test reads down to 0.01 ppm copper, according to the data sheet on it. That'd give a reasonably useful test, although copper can be an issue down to a few ppb. If the SeaChem works as advertised and it shows the rock as clear, I'd probably be willing to use it along with some CupraSorb as a safety net.
Matthewbrian316
New member
Hi Guys I read most of the post on here and I think I got it down I have about 200 lbs of dead rock and it was in a tub for about a year. I want to start fresh anyways I was thinking about doing both Bleach and then Acid. Will it be alrigt to just use tap water to rinse out?
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Does the rock look to have dead stuff on it?
Matthewbrian316
New member
Yup the rock has some dead stuff on it plus some is covered with salt all over
sahin
Ultimate Reefer
I would run the course of bleach and acid bath to try and rid most of the dead stuff and possible rid of most of the phosphates too. This will save you a lot of headache in the future fighting excess nutrients and phosphates leaching from the rocks due to the dead organic material slowly being processed in the aquarium.
Matthewbrian316
New member
Will any brand of bleach work i mean clorox has clorox ultra, clorox outdoor and clorox
Professional and there is one that says germicidal bleach by workforce
Professional and there is one that says germicidal bleach by workforce
Matthewbrian316
New member
Here is what I bought 4 gallons of muriatic acid
4 gallons of clorox ultra did I buy the right stuff?
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sahin
Ultimate Reefer
Here is what I bought 4 gallons of muriatic acid
4 gallons of clorox ultra did I buy the right stuff?
Yes, thats fine. :thumbsup:
Good luck, and BE VERY CAREFUL WITH THE ACID. Wear EYE protections and gloves etc. Use in a safe, open air area.
