giving dead rock an acid bath..

sgolden

New member
ok...so I had a big can of live rock cooking,covered... the bottom cracked and the rocks have been molding for a year. so here i am soaking the rocks in vinegar for 5 minutes, then removing it to dry...
my thinking is that the vinegar will kill the mold/bacteria and the permeating acidity will kind of increase the porosity of the rock as well.. I believe that the corrosion will end as the vinegar is neutralized by the CA of the rock...
then i plan to start to re-cycle the rock in old tank waterwith powerheads...
someone with a clue...please tell this isn't a really bad idea...thanx guys
 
We've recommended acid cleaning to folks trying to remove copper, and also possibly to remove phosphate. 5 minutes may be too short, but will have some benefit. I also usually recommend diluted muriatic acid rather than vinegar as it has a lower pH so works faster. :)

If you need to remove organic mater (like dead organisms stuff), then bleach is a more useful method.
 
the muriatic is a bit rough on my hands..and i wonder if there may be impurities in the muriatic that may be left on the rocks..
. this seems to be working rather well...but i imagine that the bucket is losing its acidity as i soak more...but it still bubbling pretty well....there isnt much organic gunk and i was trying to avoid the bleach route...
thanx Randy, I knew I wasn't a total idiot...but i am getting practice...
 
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