Acids for cleaning

[kris2001]

I do 5:1 water:muriatic. I mix outside in the wind. I store near my tank in an old plastic seachem bottle with a foldable spout. It stores for years and does not fume at this concentration.

Thanks. Now to hunt for a small quantity of muriatic acid... not a gallon!

So that i can test this out.

To measure acids to treat. dilute... can i use a simple glass tumbler or cup? Once diluted it is safe i guess even for plastic bottles.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I've rarely seen smaller bottles at hardware stores, but you might find one. :)

As to diluting, the amount doesn't really matter. Random estimating is less likely to lead to spills and splashes than careful measuring. Pour in a bunch of water, then pour in some of the acid. :)

 

[sghera64]

Buy the gallon. Use what you can and give the rest away to someone with a pool. I don’t know what they use if for but they buy it.

I store mine wrapped up in a heavy duty garbage bag outside beneath the deck. Any HCl has that escapes blows away and does not accumulate near metal where it can corroded.

Randy is right: always add acid to water not the other way around. I like to cool the water first if I’m doing a 1:1 dilution.

 

[kris2001]

I did a 1:5 mix today. Will gas escape with mouth tied with ziplock and zip ties in that original bottle? If escaping gas is issue no matter.... then I'll dilute entire batch and store in bottles. I used rodi waste water btw....

Will 1:5 water ratio hurt certain reef equipment?...or is 1:10 the safer bet?


thx

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I did a 1:5 mix today. Will gas escape with mouth tied with ziplock and zip ties in that original bottle? If escaping gas is issue no matter.... then I'll dilute entire batch and store in bottles. I used rodi waste water btw....

Will 1:5 water ratio hurt certain reef equipment?...or is 1:10 the safer bet?


thx

I don't think there's an appreciable difference between those two ratios in terms of reef equipment. Don't put anything metal into the acid.

 

[kris2001]

I don't think there's an appreciable difference between those two ratios in terms of reef equipment. Don't put anything metal into the acid.

Ok.

But i used to run pumps for a day or 2 in vinegar solution... pumps have magnets, mp10 has a metal needle i think. [emoji852]

I guess vinegar is organic acid as supposed to dil. HCL.....

Is vinegar safer for metals...
Is HCL solution any way more better than white vinegar solution?.. thx

 

[kris2001]

Buy the gallon. Use what you can and give the rest away to someone with a pool. I don’t know what they use if for but they buy it.

I store mine wrapped up in a heavy duty garbage bag outside beneath the deck. Any HCl has that escapes blows away and does not accumulate near metal where it can corroded.

Randy is right: always add acid to water not the other way around. I like to cool the water first if I’m doing a 1:1 dilution.

I live in PA... will muriatic acid freeze in winter if i store it under my deck(outside)?

Inside storage:
Or should it be somewhat breathable... wonder if I can put this in a sealed container inside basement over winter?

What's a better option? At what temp does it freeze?!

Thx

 

[sghera64]

I live in PA... will muriatic acid freeze in winter if i store it under my deck(outside)?

Inside storage:
Or should it be somewhat breathable... wonder if I can put this in a sealed container inside basement over winter?

What's a better option? At what temp does it freeze?!

Thx

If it is full strength (fresh and not old) it will freeze at around-25F.

It only needs to “breath” if subjected to temperature changes because the vapor pressure of the HCl has dissolved in the water goes up and down. The jug most likely can handle this - so not a worry. If you have a shed or garage, just use that. But, place the jug in a tied-off garbage bag to contain any escaping gas and just open it when outdoors.

 

[C-Reefer]

I know this is an old thread but keeping on adding information and increasing the data base to threads like these helps users who like me yesterday were/are searching the web for info on these topics.

I muriatic acid washed my Icecap Gyre 3k yesterday. I'd done long vinegar soaks, taken it all apart and scrubbed it etc but the flow was never quite the same as when I first got it. I did a 1:10 ratio of acid to water, put in 20 cups of water and 2 cups of acid. I made sure to mix it outside. I took apart the gyre only pulling off the flow cages and propellers. I didn't take apart the driver. I set them all in and turned the gyre on, just letting the gyre run. I could see the acid eating off the algae and crud. I gave it about 5-7 minutes after which I could easily swipe off everything with a toothbrush. I put on gloves and scrubbed everything with a toothbrush. I say scrub but it was more just wiping everything off. I then moved all the equipment to a clean 5 gal bucket full of clean freshwater and rinsed and swished around everything. Then I took everything to the sink and rinsed them again. Dryed them off then let them air dry for an hour and I was good to go. Looked brand spanking new and ran like new as well. I will definitely be doing this for my deep cleans. For the monthly/weekly equipment cleans just a simple vinegar bath and scrub will work but every 4-6 months or whenever the vinegar isn't helping anymore I'll do an acid wash.

 

[Reefahholic]

I just cleaned 4 powerheads with the stronger blue jug of Muratic acid. Here’s how it worked for me and what I found out.

At first I tried a 10:1 solution and it was working but a little weak for my taste. Still faster than vinegar though.

Then I tried a 10:2 solution. Faster but will still need a good 12 hrs or more to soak.

Then I moved to about a 10:4 or 60% acid to 40% RO (check my math. Not sure if that’s right). I think I measured 800ml of acid to 300ml of RO. I did this in a large clear container that I could see through. You could literally see those little white barnacles bubbling off. I did the powerheads for about 4-6 hours and that got them loose enough to where I could scrub them clean very easily with a brush.

After that I was having so much fun that I did a 10:5 or 50% acid 50% RO with my magnet cleaners and woo hoo...that was cooking a little too quick!:eek: :pCouple hours and they were slick. Honestly that was a little too strong maybe. The plastic felt kinda greasy after that. I soaked then in vinegar for a bit and then bleach. It seemed to get that greasy feeling off and I was just a little hesitant to stick them back in my reef. Felt like they might leech plastic into the water. After they dried they felt a lot better and safer. Put my small one in first for a few days and no ill effects on the Acro’s so after a week I returned the larger ones.

My Jebao powerheads had some clear plastic seals and they were ok (no damage) in the 10:4 dip. I wouldn’t recommend anything stronger than that. In fact the 10:1 or 10:2 will be a fine choice and just go a bit longer if you have time. ;)I’d use something clear so you can monitor the effects.

I’ll say this...vinegar is too slow for me. Acid from now on!

FYI I did use a 3M painters mask with vapor filters and lab goggles and a pair of thick rubber gloves. These can all be purchased at Lowe’s and maybe Home Depot. Acid can harm your lungs and cause irreversible damage. It can also burn your eyes, skin, and hands. It is no joke and should be used with extreme caution.

 

[Reefahholic]

Here’s the canister I used to measure it out.

And I used the blue bottle of acid. It’s a lot stronger than the green.

Took this pic in Lowe’s. :-)

 

[sghera64]

If your muriatic acid (which is ~20-32% by mass HCl water in the US & UK) is fresh, I would not use anything more concentrated than a 1:4 (acid to water) solution. That’s still a 4-6% HCl solution which will make your skin itch (some say it kinda burns) if you get it on it and will cause visible bubbling on anything containing calcium carbonate (barnacles, coraline algae, or other carbonate salts).

I worry that prolonged exposure of HCl to our magnets (rare earth metals) and plastics will cause the metals to dissolve / weaken and plasticizers to removed from the plastics. This makes them brittle to where they snap the next time you try to take them apart.

The ceramic shafts and sleeves should be fine with very concentrated HCl. I believe the silicone rubbers will also hold up well.

Safety trick: I’ve had drips and splatter of 50% diluted muriatic acid on my arms, fingers and hands while diluting it for use in my fish room. A very quick treatment is to immediately put the affected skin in your tank water. The alkaline sea water neutralizes the acid and stops the itching / burning.

 

[Myka]

Concentrated (as it is purchased) is nasty. The diluted stuff doesn't fume, but might ruin clothing if splattered on it and not rinsed off.

Make sure none of them gets splattered into your eyes.

I've gotten vinegar in my eyes before, and it wasn't a big deal. It burned, but a bit of rinsing and you wouldn't know. At what approximate dilution is HCl going to be a real problem if a drop gets in my eye while I'm handling equipment?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I do not know what effect exactly burns eyes with vinegar, but the pH of straight vinegar is about 2.4. That comes from about a 1:2500 dilution of muriatic acid which starts at a pH of about -1, and each pH unit is a factor of 10 on the concentration of H+.