I just recently purchased dry pukani live rock from BRS. I'm going to give it an acid bath in 1:10 ratio acid to water. I have a couple questions first. Where can I purchase this acid? How long do I bathe the rock in it? And how do I go about fully cleaning the acid out of the rock after the bath?
Dry rock acid bath
- Thread starter FiShScaLe
- Start date
Swerve's Reef
New member
I throw in some baking soda after cleaning/soaking pumps and things in acid. The rock is Ca carbonate though, may not need to...
From my 1 prior experience using it and from what ive read it releases phosphates into the water for a period of time til all the phosphates leak out. Which is the reason why my last tank I could not keep the phosphates down. The acid bath, im not exactly sure how, takes those phosphates off the rock after a short of period of being soaked.
I'd pour the water in, then add the muriatic acid. Adding water to muriatic acid can be hazardous due to boiling.
The process eats away the surface layer of the rock, not just the phosphate, and there's no way to know how deep any phosphate contamination might be in the rock.
The process eats away the surface layer of the rock, not just the phosphate, and there's no way to know how deep any phosphate contamination might be in the rock.
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[17]shawn[17]
New member
ALWAYS ADD ACID TO WATER!!! NOT WATER TO ACID...thats all 
how long you soak all depends on the concentration and how much rock you want to loose, its kind of a test and see sort of thing, i think maybe 1-2 hours will be sufficent. as posted before your not really removing phosphate, your just removing the outer most later of rock, which may or may not be contaminated...of the contamination could be throughout
how long you soak all depends on the concentration and how much rock you want to loose, its kind of a test and see sort of thing, i think maybe 1-2 hours will be sufficent. as posted before your not really removing phosphate, your just removing the outer most later of rock, which may or may not be contaminated...of the contamination could be throughout
Gimplar
New member
I did this when i lost to my bryopsis battle. As stated, never add water to acid.
I actually did a 1:2 ratio of bleach and water prior to the acid bath, just to show that bryopsis whos boss and to kill all the organic matter ect ect on my live rock. i flushed it multiple times, neutralized the chlorine with a dechlorinator.
I did a 1:4 ratio of acid and water. I did so in the bathtub (I'd honestly recommend doing it outside if given the appropriate weather and environment). The reaction is pretty insane so make sure you are wearing gloves and eye protection while your pouring in the acid.
When you're adding the acid, it's going to bubble a lot. Just use some common sense and patients when adding the acid.
Pour some acid til you get some nice bubbles, wait til they subside, add more acid, ect ect till your reach your approximate ratio.
Afterwards, i emptied the tub and did a full flush and repeated the process 3-4 times.
When you've rinsed/flushed the rock really well, fill the tub back up and add a bunch of baking soda. Baking soda is pretty cheap so use it generously and with reason.
Afterwards I rinsed with RO/DI water and allowed it to soak for a good 24 hours, then i soaked it again for another day.
Hope it helps, no real science behind my method, but it's what a friend did and it worked well for me. Better safe then sorry was my perspective.
I actually did a 1:2 ratio of bleach and water prior to the acid bath, just to show that bryopsis whos boss and to kill all the organic matter ect ect on my live rock. i flushed it multiple times, neutralized the chlorine with a dechlorinator.
I did a 1:4 ratio of acid and water. I did so in the bathtub (I'd honestly recommend doing it outside if given the appropriate weather and environment). The reaction is pretty insane so make sure you are wearing gloves and eye protection while your pouring in the acid.
When you're adding the acid, it's going to bubble a lot. Just use some common sense and patients when adding the acid.
Pour some acid til you get some nice bubbles, wait til they subside, add more acid, ect ect till your reach your approximate ratio.
Afterwards, i emptied the tub and did a full flush and repeated the process 3-4 times.
When you've rinsed/flushed the rock really well, fill the tub back up and add a bunch of baking soda. Baking soda is pretty cheap so use it generously and with reason.
Afterwards I rinsed with RO/DI water and allowed it to soak for a good 24 hours, then i soaked it again for another day.
Hope it helps, no real science behind my method, but it's what a friend did and it worked well for me. Better safe then sorry was my perspective.
dkeller_nc
New member
Inetmug - This is an old thread, but I thought I'd mention a warning about this if you're not used to handling laboratory chemicals - you must do this outside. Adding concentrated hydrochloric acid to water will generate hydrogen chloride and chlorine gas when it's first stirred in. Even a small wiff of this will burn your nose/sinuses/throat/lungs quite badly.
It's also advisable to wear safety glasses, use rubber gloves (the kind for dishwashing or janitorial activities is appropriate) and old clothes.
It's also advisable to wear safety glasses, use rubber gloves (the kind for dishwashing or janitorial activities is appropriate) and old clothes.
dkeller, thanks bud for watching out. Oh yeah, no doubt outside, I use the stuff for etching concrete, and a I own a concrete pool, so the stuff is a household staple.
I got some rock that is old, full of crap as well as good stuff, and had been medicated in the past. The reason I am going this way versus bleach is speed, and I think the etching will be good. I am ready to complete the aquascape in the 250, and it is already showing signs of coraline and pods from the other established rock. So I am not going to wait this rock out through the fallow period in the old tank.
My main concern is how to condition the rock after the bath. Meaning soak it etc, phosphates that may leech out, etc. I say this because I am ignorant here, and cautious. I think any phosphates here are long leached out. I would expect The one post said let her rip, and I agree with the comment, therre is no danger other than any remaining acid would muck with the PH. But I think I am gonna be safe an tank it in my culture tank with the pump for at least a few days and test the water. Gonna use the water from the DT as the seed water for the culture phase.
dkeller_nc
New member
From the standpoint of phosphate leaching, there are a couple of considerations. If the rock was originally in the sea (as opposed to terrestrially-mined fossilized reef rock), then it probably doesn't have much if any phosphate in the actual rock matrix. In this case, dissolving the outer few millimeters of the rock's surface should remove any phosphate that may have precipitated during the time the rock was in an aquarium with relatively high tank water phosphate concentrations.
If the rock was terrestrially mined, then there's a chance that you might have a good bit of phosphate in the rock itself that's accumulated over the eons of groundwater penetration that the rock was exposed to. In this case, removing the outer surface may not have all that much effect on phosphate leaching potential since "new" surface is exposed that contains phosphate.
Under this last circumstance, you've a few choices that could be used to leach the phosphate out of the last few millimeters of the rock's surface. The first would be to place the rock in a trash can, and circulate heated seawater for a few weeks. That will dissolve phosphate on the rock until equilibrium is reached with the water. It would probably be enough just to change the seawater every week or so to remove the phosphate being leached and "make room for more" in the water. But you can also add an absorbent/precipitater to lock up the phosphate and encourage dissolution from the rock. Many folks do this with lanthanum chloride (SeaKleer), but you could also accomplish it by adding a fair amount of GFO in a mesh bag.
However, if you're the patient type, you could just aquascape your tank, add your seawater, run the tank without illumination for a few weeks, and include a GFO reactor. Water tests with the Hanna 713 phosphate checker will tell you whether the rock is leaching phosphate into the water, and the lack of illumination will prevent your tank from becoming an algae farm.
If the rock was terrestrially mined, then there's a chance that you might have a good bit of phosphate in the rock itself that's accumulated over the eons of groundwater penetration that the rock was exposed to. In this case, removing the outer surface may not have all that much effect on phosphate leaching potential since "new" surface is exposed that contains phosphate.
Under this last circumstance, you've a few choices that could be used to leach the phosphate out of the last few millimeters of the rock's surface. The first would be to place the rock in a trash can, and circulate heated seawater for a few weeks. That will dissolve phosphate on the rock until equilibrium is reached with the water. It would probably be enough just to change the seawater every week or so to remove the phosphate being leached and "make room for more" in the water. But you can also add an absorbent/precipitater to lock up the phosphate and encourage dissolution from the rock. Many folks do this with lanthanum chloride (SeaKleer), but you could also accomplish it by adding a fair amount of GFO in a mesh bag.
However, if you're the patient type, you could just aquascape your tank, add your seawater, run the tank without illumination for a few weeks, and include a GFO reactor. Water tests with the Hanna 713 phosphate checker will tell you whether the rock is leaching phosphate into the water, and the lack of illumination will prevent your tank from becoming an algae farm.
