Vinegar Soak?

[vyerous]

Once I complete my plumbing and the sump is fully cured, I plan on doing a nice 72+ hours vinegar soak on the whole system.

My questions are these:

I plan on dumping a good amount of vinegar with a total of 120 gallons of water, will this vinegar weaken the silicone on the tank and sump?

Will it eat away at the plastic overflow?

Is 72+ hours too long?

Will it weaken any glue in the PVC?

Thanks!

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Out of curiosity, why are you doing this?

Most people just make sure the system was clean, do a freshwater leak test, then fill it up "for real."

 

[vyerous]

The tanks are used and have a lot of calcium and left over algae on the glass. I want to give the tank a good soak to not only ensure it is clean but to also break down anything on the glass.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Vinegar is OK on old calcium deposits, but honestly pretty weak and will still require a lot of elbow grease - just FWIW.

Still better than just scraping it off dry. And no worries, the vinegar won't harm anything.

 

[vyerous]

Gotchya, I planned on dumping about 2 gallons of vinegar in the 120 gallons of freshwater and letting it soak like that. I'm hoping the prolonged soak will help my cause, and reassure me the tank can handle the setup. I will be holding my breath for a record time.

 

[jon1985]

I recently had to clean an old tank that had lots of the purple algea on the side. I used hot water from the tap and sprayed it on with a squirt bottle. I didnt this every 5 mins or so for about half an hour and went to town with a razor blade. Worked wonders. Just a thought.

 

[vyerous]

Oh cool good idea. My other dilemma is the cleaning issue. The tank has been sitting for about 2 months now while coordinating everything and it could use a good deep clean. Plus there was also the green algae but its near impossible to get off dry with a razor blade, and the calcium buildup.

Thanks!