Muriatic acid locally

[reefkeeperrut]

So after about 5 hours of research I think I'm ready to give my long dead and dry rock a acid bath followed with LC treatment. Does anyone know where I can get muriatic acid locally. It was hard enough finding weld-on. I can't imagine what I need to do to get the acid.

Anyone local have experience with muriatic acid and/or LC?

 

[lolgranny]

Home Depot!

 

[jayjigga]

I got mine from True Value in Des Plaines, but any hardware store should have it.

 

[lolgranny]

^Yup, its used for cleaning the outside of RV's (Along with other things) so most hardware places carry it. Its in the lawn and garden dept at Home Depot. Use to work there years ago, oh what comes in handy from time to time HA!

I think pool places carry it too, people use it to balance the PH out

 

[reefkeeperrut]

Unbelievable! I can't get a true union but muriatic acid is readily available?! Thanks much.

 

[Duc1098]

Check the paint section at Home Depot. It's used to etch concrete prior to painting.

 

[softieatheart]

Also can get at any pool chemical supply company.

 

[schmoeger6]

Just did the acid bath on some nasty old dried out rock about a month ago. Rock turned out great, but be ready for a frothy, smelly mess coming out of the container. I would highly recommend doing it outside if possible.
I've done it with a few different batchs of rock over the years. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[ostrow]

Yes do NOT do this in your house!!

 

[skunkmere]

menards has it as well as any hardware store with a paint section. be careful

 

[reefkeeperrut]

How do I dispose of the frothy mess safely? I've seen posts where people dump it down the drain? And thanks for the tip cause I had every intention of doing this in my basement.

 

[schmoeger6]

I did it in the basement, but had a fan drawing the fumes out a window. I wouldnt recommend doing it this way, but it was really cold out when i did mine.
I did pump it down the drain when i was finished, but i'm on my own septic system.
Make sure you have plenty of RO/DI water made up. I rinsed mine twice, then did a bleech bath just to make sure there was not any bound up organics left after the acid bath. I rinsed it two more times, then let it circulate with decholinator for a couple days. Then i let it dry completely before putting it in the tank. Had 0 issues doing it this way. Just seeded it with a couple of pieces of clean live rock.

 

[reefkeeperrut]

How long have your rocks been in the DT since that? Have you seen any nuisance algae? Any coralline? Im hesitant to take such drastic steps but I've been through the cooking process (darkness, frequent water changes) for 6 months in the past and that was a mess. From what I've read this seems like a much easier way of exporting phosphates. Am I missing anything?

 

[E Rosewater]

Neutralize the solution with Baking Soda before disposing of it. Use a pH test kit to test, or at the very least, add until it stops fizzing.

The fumes are one of the more dangerous parts of working with muriatic acid, work in a well ventilated area and wear eye protection.

And as always add acid to water.

 

[schmoeger6]

I've had the tank going for a couple months now. Zero nuisance anything on the rock. It is starting to get coraline good growth on it now. You will be amazed at the gunk that will come off the rock in the acid bath. Just my personall opinion, but i would not consider starting a tank any other way. I've been thru the whole bryopsis battle, aptasia/majano battle, high PO4, etc in the past. I am extremely careful what goes into the tank now (QT everything) and have no plans of having any of these issues this time around.
I was a little hessitant the first time i tried this as well, but it really is pretty simple once you've done it.

 

[schmoeger6]

And as always add acid to water.

Good point. I did add the acid to the water in a tub, then added the rock to that. Gloves and glasses are a must!

 

[reefkeeperrut]

Just to clarify... Always add acid to water, but I was thinking of packing the rock in a container of water and then adding the acid. Is there any difference between adding rock to acid/water mix or adding acid to water/rock mix? And after I've neutralized acid with baking soda should it go in the drain or ground or other?

 

[wantsalotta]

Pack the container with circulation - cheap pump of some kind, rock, and water. Then add acid. Wear eye protection!! If you add too much, it will eat yur rock lol. One batch did too much acid and lost a lot of mass in my rocks. Like grapefruit size became baseball size.

 

[E Rosewater]

I personally like adding the rock and water first, a good amount of circulation then adding the acid. This prevents splashing when adding the rock.

Once the solution is neutralized it's fine to go anywhere. It will be salt water at this point though, so it could be bad for plant life.

Make sure you don't fill the bucket too much, this will foam up some and you don't want that gunk overflowing and making a mess.

 

[jayjigga]

I just skimmed through the responses, but I saw you wanted to pull additional phosphates out; for that, you need lanthanum chloride. RC has some great articles on cooking rock, so if U haven't already read up, search LC here and begin your journey. The only place I found some (but not necessarily the safe kind) was Hart pool on Algonquin, but a friend might have some to sell since he bought some for the same purpose.