Acid wash some old live rock I had.. Just to be safe!

[Bfofre]

Bleached this a few days ago.. Now in the acid!  Had about 70lbs of live rock which I stored since 2006  

Figured this was the safest way to get them clean clean clean!

Question though,  how long in the acid bath?

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[Duke]

dude thats going to mess ur porch up, your going to have to acid bath the whole porch in the spring.

 

[Bfofre]

Nope,  porch is good..  I rinsed it as I was doing it,  then squeegee it.. 

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[Neopimp]

Haha I have never has that happen when I acid wash rock


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[MrHermit85]

Haha I have never has that happen when I acid wash rock


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You never get foam when acid washing?

 

[Neopimp]

Not that much not even close.  What mix so you use


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[Bfofre]

1:10

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[Bfofre]

Rinsing rock off now...   

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[Pistol]

Haha I have never has that happen when I acid wash rock


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Thats about what I got, 1:10 as well.

 

[Neopimp]

I guess I am th odd one out


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[Bfofre]

Some of the rock has a rust color to it after the wash,  some turned pure white..  After looking at pictures of others results,  I think it's normal..  Rinsed it off,  now waiting for it to dry

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[Neopimp]

Muriatic acid?


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[Bfofre]

Yes..  Bleach for 3 days,  dry,  muriatic acid  (1:10) for about 30mins, baking soda to neutralize,  then final rinse..  I've done all those steps..  Waiting for it to dry for a few days now..

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[AdInfinitum]

Curious... What is the intention of the acid wash?  To dissolve off the surface layers of the rock to remove phosphates that may have been absorbed?  By removing the surface layers would you not just be freeing bound compounds in the deeper layers?

If the intention is to sanitize the roock and burn out organic material wouldn't caustic soda be more effective without damaging the rock?

This is not something that I have ever done so I would like to know...  Is there a link to something about this on RC?

 

[Bfofre]

Look up acid wash live rock on  Rc.  Lots of threads..  And yes the bleach kills all the life on the rock,  the acid strips the outer layer removing any phosphate,  and copper.

I did it as a precaution only since I started my new tank with all dry rock only!  Looking to get a leg up on any nuisance algae issues.

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[AdInfinitum]

OK scanned RC...I guess it comes down to the current thinking of having the biotope sterile and controlled which is a move away from the old thinking of bio-diversity as being a good thing.

Results speak for themselves.