Cons of a acid bath?

[jlynn859]

I purchased 50lbs of BRS fiji dry live rock a couple of weeks ago. I am wanting to take all my rock I have now out of my tank and replace it with what I purchased from BRS. This rock has a lot of dead things on it. I have been soaking it in saltwater for a little while now. I have taken it out scrubbed it with a toothbrush, rinsed it under rodi water and placed it in freshly made saltwater. But I have been reading about vinegar acid baths. Would anyone know any cons to do an acid bath?

 

[Ah64av8tor]

Depending on the strength of the acid it will eat away at your rock some along with the gunk that is on there.

I have used Muratic Acid (10% sulfuric acid) to clean rocks ( it will open up lots of holes in the rock you didn't know were there) you just have to let it soak with daily water changes for about two weeks.

 

[jlynn859]

I bought 5% vinegar. I thought about trying the Muriatic acid, but being home with a toddler 24/7-vinegar is less dangerous. Should I just continue doing as I am now. Letting it soak for a while, scrub it with a brush, and place it in freshly made sw? Or would I benefit in the long run of a acid bath then sw soak then putting it in tank?

 

[Ah64av8tor]

Keep it up as you are doing let it soak in RO water for a day or so then in fresh salt water

 

[SeattleReefer]

In a former life I graduated with a degree in chemistry....

so- first off, Muriatic acid is not sulphuric acid, it's hydrochloric acid. That's an important distinction because muriatic acid gives off Chlorine gas as fumes when it reacts with calcium carbonate. Obviously you don't want to be breathing chlorine gas so all acid baths must be done outside wearing a gas mask suitable for acid.

Second- Vinegar is not gonna do much at all because it's an extremely weak acid.

Third, yes an acid bath will slightly eat the rock itself but to such a minor degree as to be unnoticeable.

Fourth- an acid bath WILL loosen and possibly dissolve organics from the rock so I think it's quite valuable to do. J

ust grab a big bottle of muriatic acid from Lowes/HomeDepot and a big tub. Put the tub outside on rocks or soil because it will likely overflow. (don't put on your driveway, it will etch it!) Fill the tub with water and put the rocks in. Don the gasmask and slowly add acid to water (never add water to acid!) until it's doing a good frothing and bubbling. Then walk away for an hour or two and let it do it's thing. In an hour dump in a big box of baking soda (not baking powder!) to neutralize acid and wash, wash, wash the rocks until there is no more reaction to the baking soda. I would let the rocks sit overnight in water too but eventually the acid will be gone and the rocks will be as clean as a rock can get.

 

[jlynn859]

What does soaking in ro water do?

 

[jlynn859]

I may experiment with my rock I am planning on replacing.

In a former life I graduated with a degree in chemistry....

so- first off, Muriatic acid is not sulphuric acid, it's hydrochloric acid. That's an important distinction because muriatic acid gives off Chlorine gas as fumes when it reacts with calcium carbonate. Obviously you don't want to be breathing chlorine gas so all acid baths must be done outside wearing a gas mask suitable for acid.

Second- Vinegar is not gonna do much at all because it's an extremely weak acid.

Third, yes an acid bath will slightly eat the rock itself but to such a minor degree as to be unnoticeable.

Fourth- an acid bath WILL loosen and possibly dissolve organics from the rock so I think it's quite valuable to do. J

ust grab a big bottle of muriatic acid from Lowes/HomeDepot and a big tub. Put the tub outside on rocks or soil because it will likely overflow. (don't put on your driveway, it will etch it!) Fill the tub with water and put the rocks in. Don the gasmask and slowly add acid to water (never add water to acid!) until it's doing a good frothing and bubbling. Then walk away for an hour or two and let it do it's thing. In an hour dump in a big box of baking soda (not baking powder!) to neutralize acid and wash, wash, wash the rocks until there is no more reaction to the baking soda. I would let the rocks sit overnight in water too but eventually the acid will be gone and the rocks will be as clean as a rock can get.

 

[Ah64av8tor]

What does soaking in ro water do?

SeattleReefer Gave GREAT advise. Much better than I could do on my phone!


Tap water is nasty with chlorimines or chlorine, fluoride and other junk you don't want to take up residence in your rock. SeattleReefer could give a long list of nasties for you I'm sure! RO water is pretty close to pure H2O.

 

[jlynn859]

Thank y'all for the help. I will let it sit in ro water. The fresh sw mix I just put it in is already turning to an yucky color. Im not in a big hurry just want the best efficient way to get the dead stuff and phosphates out of the rock.

 

[toothybugs]

HCl + CaCO3 gives you calcium chloride (salt), water, and carbon dioxide, not chlorine gas. HCl by itself is naturally a gas, that's what you smell before it reacts with anything. The acid will neutralize itself by consuming the outer layer of rock so no neutralizing agent is needed. It IS nice, however, to do a good rinse and then scrub afterward to get the gunk off.

 

[d-man]

Meh, I have done many times over will no ill effects....

Soak in Muriatic til it stops bubbling(1-2hrs), drain, rinse well with hose and scrub. Fill tub with hose water again and submerge each piece, shake then set out to dry for a few days. No problem

 

[jlynn859]

What do you do with it after it dries out?

 

[toothybugs]

Put it in your tank.

 

[Cujo]

Meh, I have done many times over will no ill effects....

Soak in Muriatic til it stops bubbling(1-2hrs), drain, rinse well with hose and scrub. Fill tub with hose water again and submerge each piece, shake then set out to dry for a few days. No problem

This is what I did, no issues.... Could definitely notice the rock dissolved a bit, made it more porous.

 

[reefgeezer]

The only real "con" is the safety issue. Exposure time is also difficult to determine. Not long enough and you won't dissolve enough off the surface of the rock and too long you'll dissolve too much.

Keep the intent of the process in mind. Acid baths, whether done quickly with a strong acid like Muratic or over a longer period with a weak acid like vinegar, are intended to dissolve the calcium carbonate build-up on the outer layer of the rock. This is where bound phosphate resides. RC members have indicated that BRS rock contains a lot of bound phosphate so maybe an acid bath would be a good idea.

 

[ayionna06]

1. Before doing the acid bath are you guys using regular tap water or rodi water?
2. After the bath are you rinsing it off with tap water or rodi water?
3. After rinsing off and letting the rocks sit outside for a few days are you placing the rocks back in the tank or in a bucket of freshly made saltwater?
4. Will doing this eliminate all the phosohate and nitrate build up or is it just cleaning the rocks up so they look nice and white?

 

[Chibils]

1. Don't know that it matters. Someone else will have to jump in.

2. RO/DI. Tap will contain phosphate probably, and may have small amounts of heavy metals.

3. Probably a bucket of SW just to make sure it's nice and clean and the acid is all neutralized.

4. Yes, at least a good portion of it, but it will also make them sparkly white.

 

[SeattleReefer]

1. Before doing the acid bath are you guys using regular tap water or rodi water?
2. After the bath are you rinsing it off with tap water or rodi water?
3. After rinsing off and letting the rocks sit outside for a few days are you placing the rocks back in the tank or in a bucket of freshly made saltwater?
4. Will doing this eliminate all the phosohate and nitrate build up or is it just cleaning the rocks up so they look nice and white?

-I use tapwater, which has chloramines that react with HCL to form Chlorine gas. That's why a gas mask/goggles/gloves should be worn. Using RO is just silly.

- I rinse with tapwater too because I rinse maybe 5 times.

- I let mine soak in tapwater for a few days (with some water changes) then into the tank it goes (with Prime to neutralize chloramines).

- The point of the acid bath is to loosen/dissolve any organic material stuck on the rocks and it foams like crazy to show it's working. (just like in the protein skimmer, the foam comes from dissolved organics). Some ppl say that the acid bath also dissolves phosphates adhered to the top layer of the rock too. The fact that it comes out all nice and white is a bonus.


btw- lots of youtube videos on this to show what to expect.

 

[ayionna06]

I thought I read somewhere on here or maybe someone was explaining a way similar that also gets rid of binding phosphate and nitrates.

 

[ayionna06]

So after completing this acid bath how would I remove the phosphates out the rocks also?