Will Muriatic Acid Soak Dissolve Soft Corals?

[Aaron75]

Tl:dr. Does Muriatic Acid dissolve soft corals or just kill it? How long does it take?

Let me start by saying yes I'm aware of the precautions to take when working with Acid. I always have some on hand as I have a pool. Now that that is out of the way, I just removed a bunch of rock from an old tank and some of it is covered in gsp and some old zoas (rock will be bleached, rinsed and dried long before treatment to avoid any paly concerns and toxic gas concerns) and kenyas and such. If I place the rock with coral in acid, will it dissolve the gsp and other soft corals? I don't want it just dead, I want it gone. Is there an alternate way to achieve this?

 

[CNDReef]

Following

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

No, muriatic acid will not dissolve tissue (hard or soft corals, fish, etc.). It dissolves calcium carbonate skeletons and sand, rocks, etc.

Bleach will slowly dissolve organic tissue.

 

[Aaron75]

No, muriatic acid will not dissolve tissue (hard or soft corals, fish, etc.). It dissolves calcium carbonate skeletons and sand, rocks, etc.

Bleach will slowly dissolve organic tissue.

Excellent, that's the answer i was looking for. I'd much rather work with bleach anyways. How slow is slow? Is there a more efficient way? Will bleach have any effect on the rock itself over time? I can leave the rock in bleach for a month, there is no rush.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Excellent, that's the answer i was looking for. I'd much rather work with bleach anyways. How slow is slow? Is there a more efficient way? Will bleach have any effect on the rock itself over time? I can leave the rock in bleach for a month, there is no rush.

I don't know for sure, but I put some hard coral skeletons covered in dead tissue into straight bleach, and some time later (days? more?) I removed them and they were totally clean and white.

 

[Aaron75]

I don't know for sure, but I put some hard coral skeletons covered in dead tissue into straight bleach, and some time later (days? more?) I removed them and they were totally clean and white.

Thanks for the response. I'll try this and hopefully update with a good timeline on effectiveness.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Let us know how it works out.

 

[jda]

If you don't care about the rock, a deep freeze and thaw will start to break down coral tissue quite well. Next, a bit of elbow grease will get most of the stuff off of the rock. The residual should be easy to handle with some bleach or acid.

 

[Aaron75]

Let us know how it works out.

The test is on. 2 similar shaped and covered rocks. 1 will be added to 50/50 mix of sodium hypochlorite and rodi, the other will be just sodium hyporchlorite. Like to compare effectiveness. Prior to, the rocks were left to dry in 100 degree heat for a few days so id suspect what is there is already dead, but you never know with gsp.

 

[Aaron75]

Only been 20 minutes but I'd say it's working

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I dissolved a leather coral in bleach once, after about 2-3 days it was completely gone. There was a powerhead in the bucket