Is muriatic acid safe for acrylic?

[JCOLE]

I am doing a full reset on my 480 gallon peninsula and would like to use muriatic acid on the bottom of the tank and harder to get to areas to remove coralline, algae, bacteria, etc. I am getting mixed opinions and wanted to get everyones thoughts on this. Some say not use it and some say they use straight muratic acid on acrylic with no issues.

What is your opinion on this?

Thanks everyone,
Josh

 

[griss]

If you had a spare piece of acrylic, you could test it on that. Is there are reason you're not going to use vinegar? I have a couple gallons on muriatic acid that I intended to use on some old rock. But, the more I read about the hazards and disposal methods, I decided against using it.

 

[griss]

Here's an old thread discussing it (if you haven't already seen it).

muriatic acid and acrylic - Reef Central Online Community

muriatic acid and acrylic Do It Yourself

www.reefcentral.com

 

[griss]

The more I'm looking, I'm finding vague (nothing concrete) references to muriatic dissolving acrylic sealers.

On google, here's what I'm talking about.

Here's the link that takes you to. There are product sheets there that might provide more info. But, I don't have time to review those right now. Gotta get my Project Status Reports done

 

[wvned]

Chemical Resistance Chart
HCL with Acrylic
A = No Attack, possibly slight absorption. Negligible effect on mechanical properties.

Muriatic acid is Hydrochloric acid.
Synonyms

• hydrochloric acid
• hydrogen chloride
• 7647-01-0
• Muriatic acid
• chlorane

Not sure what you mean by sealers. I thought acrylic was joined by welding. Silicone sealers are resistant to dilute HCl

 

[griss]

Not sure what you mean by sealers. I thought acrylic was joined by welding. Silicone sealers are resistant to dilute HCl

Good point Ned. It is welded together using Weld-On, so it might not be an issue. I was trying to do to many things at once when I replying above

 

[JCOLE]

If you had a spare piece of acrylic, you could test it on that. Is there are reason you're not going to use vinegar? I have a couple gallons on muriatic acid that I intended to use on some old rock. But, the more I read about the hazards and disposal methods, I decided against using it.

I have a piece of acrylic I put in a cup of pure HCL yesterday. It's almost been 24hrs and I will check to see if anything happened.

I heard acetate could be harder on plastics than HCL. I can use vinegar but I have a couple gallons of HCL so I figured why not especially if it will make short work of it. It's a ton of acrylic to clean so the faster the better.

 

[JCOLE]

Here's an old thread discussing it (if you haven't already seen it).

muriatic acid and acrylic - Reef Central Online Community

muriatic acid and acrylic Do It Yourself

www.reefcentral.com

Prefect. I'll give it a read. Thanks!

 

[JCOLE]

The more I'm looking, I'm finding vague (nothing concrete) references to muriatic dissolving acrylic sealers.

On google, here's what I'm talking about.
View attachment 32399569

Here's the link that takes you to. There are product sheets there that might provide more info. But, I don't have time to review those right now. Gotta get my Project Status Reports done

Oh come on, work can wait....

 

[JCOLE]

Chemical Resistance Chart
HCL with Acrylic
A = No Attack, possibly slight absorption. Negligible effect on mechanical properties.

Muriatic acid is Hydrochloric acid.
Synonyms

• hydrochloric acid
• hydrogen chloride
• 7647-01-0
• Muriatic acid
• chlorane

Not sure what you mean by sealers. I thought acrylic was joined by welding. Silicone sealers are resistant to dilute HCl

Thanks Ned. I am feeling a little more comfortable about using it.

 

[wvned]

I use it to clean most everything anymore.

 

[JCOLE]

I use it to clean most everything anymore.

I plan on using it to clean my skimmer when the time comes. It is filled with coralline and running HCL through it just sounds like the easiest and best way.

 

[JCOLE]

I just checked and the piece of acrylic left in a cup of straight HCL for 24hrs seemed unphased by the HCL. I would say that's a good sign it's pretty safe for acrylic.

 

[griss]

I just checked and the piece of acrylic left in a cup of straight HCL for 24hrs seemed unphased by the HCL. I would say that's a good sign it's pretty safe for acrylic.

Sweet, good to know for future reference.