Muratic acid dip

[Reef Swimmer]

I'm going to be getting some rock from ducati996 and I'm going to dip it in muratic acid to clean off any old coraline or anything else that is growing on the rock that I don't want in my tank. I've never done this before and I would like someone to show me how to do it. I've been reading up on it but I would still want someone there so I don't screw it up and get hurt.

[jason081180]

i had never heard of a muratic acid dip to clean rocks. after looking it up though it will kill everything on the rock and even eat away some of the rock and all coraline growth. This will kill your rock completely no live at all. to me this would be about the worst thing you could do. you want the life and bacteria, you want all the pods, sponges, and other small creatures on the rock. this is why your buying LIVE rock not dry rock. from what i have read, if you do this it is multi days of soaking and drying the rock. also it will take many months maybe as much as 6 months or so till the bacteria grows back and you could even start to have life in your tank. so no fish or corals for a LONG time. you would have dry rock so look up how and time frame to turn dry rock live with out anything to seed it. the only benefit i could think of for doing this would be if the rock was covered with things that would hurt your tank. like lots of Aiptasia. but even then there are much less drastic ways of treating the rock. from what i know now about the process and reason behind it, and i don't know much about it yet. I would beg you not to do this or you would be wasting your money on the live rock and setting your tank back many many months. but i would also like to hear from others on this idea.

[ramsey]

The idea is to release bound phosphates from used live rock. Live rock will collect phosphates over time in a closed tank environment. The acid pulls it out. I've done it and it works great, but it was on dry rock and I knew I'd need to reseed it to make it love rock. It's also a messy job. How long has the LR you're getting been in the persons tank? If they've only had it a year and they got it "new", it's not worth the acid drip. However, if it's been in the tank for 10 years, it might be worth looking in to.

[Reef Swimmer]

It's dry rock. I want to clean off all the old coraline and start with fresh rock. It's been out of water for a month I believe.

[jason081180]

oh ok. if your buying dry rock i hope its cheap and you plan to wait for months for it to become live before you get any fish or corals

[Reef Swimmer]

Buck a lb and I got a bottle of fritz 9 to jump start my tank.

[jason081180]

ok i would also get some really good live rock to help seed your tank. do you have a container to do this in? from what i read you need to let it rinse in new water for 24 hours or more then maybe even let it dry before it goes in your tank.

[Zen Reef]

I disagree with waiting so long before you can add live stock after a proper acid bath on the LR. I wanted to start a system as sterile as possible and choose to go with this method. I did both a bleach soak and acid bath. The rock will be more porous from the acid--- while this is great for bacteria to colonize, take care not to soak your softer/more porous pieces for too long. They can get too brittle. Be sure to do your research as it can be very dangerous--acid+bleach=chlorine gas. With that being said:

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/07/10/8aje5ese.jpg 150 gallon set up with acid washed LR, new live sand and seeded with macrobacter7. Marcro algae added to fuge immediately. Fish(4 tangs, 2 clowns) added after 7 days. Coral stocked after 14 days.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/07/10/ju2usuda.jpg Same tank 3 months later. Tank is now up for 7 months with no issues.


Just do your research. IMO advise is fine but it doesn't supersede a thorough understanding of what you're tackling.

[ramsey]

I agree with Tuan, no need to have to wait that long for fish. I bleached my rock first, then gave it an acid bath. I was able to cycle my tank quickly with the dry rock, ammonia and bacteria. I did have a decent sized algae bloom, more than I've had using live rock. I've had it in the tank for about three months and the rock is already "live" with worms, coralline, etc.

I soaked the rock in a bleach-water solution for 24 hours, then soaked it in tap water for 48 hours and did a tap water change in between. I then dried the rock out for about two weeks. You might not need to dry it out this long, but I wanted to make sure it was dry and all the bleach had evaporated.

I did basically the same process for the acid bath. One thing to note is it's going to foam like crazy. I used a 44g brute trash can and only filled it about half way with water/rock. Add the rock and water first, then the acid. It still foamed over a bit but I had a garden hose handy to spray down the trashcan. I left the rock in about an hour, but as Tuan said, it depends on how porous the rock is. I had various rock I had collected so some pieces "cooked" more than others. When it was done cooking, I added several boxes of baking soda to help neutralize the acid. Then I did the water soak again and dried the rock out.

The ratio I used was one part bleach/acid to ten parts water (1:10). If you do a google search, you'll find various threads where people have done this. Good luck!

[hobogato]

just to reiterate and make it stand out more, as tuan and ramsey said:

be very sure that there is no bleach on the rock when you do the acid wash - it will produce chlorine gas. this can kill you and anything else in the immediate area.

BE CAREFUL

[Reef Swimmer]

This is starting to scare the holy **** outa me. I do want a sterile environment as possible just don't wana kill myself or anyone else. I feel like I'm getting in way over my head here.

[Zen Reef]

Scared is good. And warranted. Do your research before you tackle this one. Make sure you understand the risks and more importantly, what precautions to take.

[Reef Swimmer]

I know I need gloves, apron and a face mask, a hose on stand by as well as baking soda. I just don't know how long to leave it in there or what to put the acid in.

[jcnkt_ellis]

Acid should be fine in most plastic containers. Also, be careful when adding the baking soda (a base) to the acid to neutralize things. It will produce heat and possibly more poisonous fumes (found this out in high school chemistry the hard way).

[ramsey]

I was nervous the first time I did it too. That's good. Just be very careful, do it outside and you'll be fine. It's not as bad as it sounds, but it can be very dangerous if you're not careful.

[jason081180]

sounds like a fun thing to try i would like to see it. i guess i was over thinking the time needed to wait to add fish and all to the tank. i have not used any of the bottled bacteria before so i guess they work good at almost instantly seeding your tank. will deffently be an interesting experience to try this out. do you need to use bleach at all anyway if your going to do the acid dip. wont the acid kill off everything anyway? so if there is no bleach then no need to worry about chlorine gas.

[Zen Reef]

sounds like a fun thing to try i would like to see it. i guess i was over thinking the time needed to wait to add fish and all to the tank. i have not used any of the bottled bacteria before so i guess they work good at almost instantly seeding your tank. will deffently be an interesting experience to try this out. do you need to use bleach at all anyway if your going to do the acid dip. wont the acid kill off everything anyway? so if there is no bleach then no need to worry about chlorine gas.

You're right, no bleach is less risk. I bleached the rock to get it nice and clean/white.

[Reef Swimmer]

Won't the acid make it white??

[Zen Reef]

Try it.

[ramsey]

No, the acid won't make them white. I've done both, bleach then acid and just acid. Using just the acid works, but leaves the rock more brownish but still natural looking. I was happier with the bleach + acid results more, but it was more work and more time. But , just the acid is safer, less time and still gives you the desired result of sucking all the phosphates and any metals out.

[Reef Swimmer]

And cleaning up the dead coraline.

[Reef Swimmer]

I was looking at Home Depots web site for muratic acid and there's so many different brands and strengths that I don't know which to get or what size container to put it in

[Flyride95]

I buy this acid to put into my pool to lower my ph. Be careful because if it gets in your eyes or even on your hands you are in trouble. And I buy whatever the 36% one is. I believe it is 10-15$ a bottle.

[ramsey]

Just to to homedepot. It's on an end cap in the garden area.

[jcnkt_ellis]

Put it in any plastic container that is deep enough for the rock to be fully covered. i.e. large tuberware storage bin or brute trash can.

[Reef Swimmer]

Will a 5g bucket work?