Dry rock acid bath questions

[DLANDINO]

Hello, I am about to give my new dry rock an acid bath with vinegar. I know that if using muriatic acid that it is a 1:10 ratio. Can someone please tell me if the ratio is the same if using vinegar? If it matters I have 50 lbs of fiji sitting in a basic plastic tub purchased from Walmart. Also, how long should this bath last and then once complete is it sufficient to just soak the rock in water with a power head to remove the excess acid?

 

[bertoni]

I might use 2:1 for vinegar. It's a much weaker acid. I'd try 20 minutes in the solution, and then see how the rock looks.

A good rinsing should be fine to remove most of the acid. The rock will neutralize the rest.

 

[DLANDINO]

Thanks, just to be clear, 2 gallons of water for every one gallon of vinegar? Correct?

 

[downbeach]

I've done this three times with the BRS Pukani rock.
Pick off as much of the dried organic matter as you can, i.e. serpent stars, sponges, etc.
Soak it overnight - this will help to rehydrate some more of the remaining organic matter.
Hose or power wash the rock, to remove as much of the organic matter as you can.
Soak overnight in the vinegar solution 2:1 water to vinegar, with a PH or two - this will help to slough off the remaining oranic matter that is attached to the rock, as well as much of any PO4 and any heavy metals.
Hose/power wash it if off again to remove anything remaining.
Place it in some freshly made SW, and let it cure for a couple of weeks. Check for PO4, do WC's, etc.

 

[sirreal63]

I have done both vinegar and muriatic acid before. I used a 1:1 ratio, heat the water portion up first, heat speeds up the process. It is hard to judge the time, some rock is more dense than others and will take longer. I prefer muriatic acid in a 1:10 ratio for the speed, I don't like the idea of letting the rock sit in the acid solution, if you did dissolve any PO4 and let the rock sit it could re-deposit itself in the rock. I am sure Jonathan can tell us if that is a possibility but I prefer the speed of muriatic.

 

[DLANDINO]

Thanks for all of the great responses! I will begin the process today. Acid soak, rinse and then I'll let it sit covered in the crate in salt water with a power head and heater. Should I place a scoop of my live sand in the crate for good measure? Also, how long should I let it sit in the crate? I am not looking to create live rock by the way. I am happy to just have it in the tank and then will slowly add coral in the next month or two. I'm in no rush.

 

[sirreal63]

Not being in a hurry is a good thing. If it were me, I would do the acid bath, soak in ro/di water for a few days and check if any po4 has leached, if it has then I would do the lanthanum chloride treatment. If it remains po4 free for a week I would mix up saltwater, add the cup of sand and a little flake food and let it begin getting established.

 

[bertoni]

I'd put the treated rock in some water with a powerhead, and wait a few days to see whether there's an ammonia spike, but the rock likely can go into the tank right away.

 

[DLANDINO]

Thanks, that is what I'm doom right now. Any cyano threat from the vinegar ?

 

[bertoni]

Not once the rock is rinsed.