Anyone wants to join me in a bath? (1 Viewer)

[spongebob281]

Acid bath that is :0) I'm going to soak my dried rocks, roughly about 120 lbs or so, that's been sitting in the garage for some time now. Has anyone done this before? I could sure use some pointers before I nuked the rocks. The reason I'm doing this simply because they are are a nitrate/P04 factory. Cooking made a small dent in removing those unwanted byproducts so I'm gonna bring the wood in an all out effort to get a satisfactory result. However acid and sps don't sound like a good matrimony but im at my wit's end.

 

[CBBSteve]

Hi, spongebob.
What kind of acid R U planning on using?

 

[spongebob281]

Muratic acid from home depot

 

[inigomontoya]

I did this for my build, and got some pictures here.. http://www.marsh-reef.org/showthrea...ade-build-(how-to-put-leds-on-an-8-tank/page2
Get a large container when doing this, it will foam up more than you expect. Also get the large arm and hammer in the pool supply area (cheap at walmart) rather than the small one you stick in your pantry. When you underestimate the foam and it starts running down your driveway towards your car you want lots of it on hand

This was really easy- there is a thread on reefcentral you should read first but I had no real problems. Use gloves, be extra careful and it does clean them up nicely.
Also do it outside because of fumes and use goggles. If an accident happened (say drop a rock in and it splashes up) you want to be overly cautious.

 

[CBBSteve]

Hi, spongebob.
Please be careful with the acid. You'll be sacrificing a good bit of your rock using this technique. Starting off with 120 lbs, you might end up with 100 lbs or less.

Why don't you try this as an alternative if you have time.
Put your rock into a 30 gal trash can with a powerhead and a heater.
Cover it with salt water at about 1.020 sp gr. Buy the cheapest salt you can find, Petco brand will work just fine.
Put the lid on the trash can.
Change the water every week or two, be sure to swish each rock to wash out the detritis.
Keep this up for 6 to 8 weeks.
At the end, you'll have clean rocks with no detritis inside them. They will be snow white and essentially sterile. And you won't loose any of it to the acid.

good luck,
Steve

 

[spongebob281]

Hi, spongebob.
Please be careful with the acid. You'll be sacrificing a good bit of your rock using this technique. Starting off with 120 lbs, you might end up with 100 lbs or less.

Why don't you try this as an alternative if you have time.
Put your rock into a 30 gal trash can with a powerhead and a heater.
Cover it with salt water at about 1.020 sp gr. Buy the cheapest salt you can find, Petco brand will work just fine.
Put the lid on the trash can.
Change the water every week or two, be sure to swish each rock to wash out the detritis.
Keep this up for 6 to 8 weeks.
At the end, you'll have clean rocks with no detritis inside them. They will be snow white and essentially sterile. And you won't loose any of it to the acid.

good luck,
Steve

I went that route a year ago that yields very little result. This time around I'm going all out to get rid of all the carps in the rocks.

 

[spongebob281]

I did this for my build, and got some pictures here.. http://www.marsh-reef.org/showthrea...ade-build-(how-to-put-leds-on-an-8-tank/page2
Get a large container when doing this, it will foam up more than you expect. Also get the large arm and hammer in the pool supply area (cheap at walmart) rather than the small one you stick in your pantry. When you underestimate the foam and it starts running down your driveway towards your car you want lots of it on hand

This was really easy- there is a thread on reefcentral you should read first but I had no real problems. Use gloves, be extra careful and it does clean them up nicely.
Also do it outside because of fumes and use goggles. If an accident happened (say drop a rock in and it splashes up) you want to be overly cautious.

First, I rinsed the rocks with a garden hose several time to loosen up dirt. Up next, I threw them in a large plastic tub then fill it up with water and acid in a 10:1 concoction. It sat for about an hour or so then I emptied the tub and filled it up with tap water and some baking soda. Everything looks a bit cleaner alrEADY.