Advice needed...Help..!

Mindi

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I have been using Randy's most recent recipe with NaOH for a few months. Am now pulling down tank and selling. Today was sump cleaning day..... every other day of my life will be better.
I have a very thin, very hard white deposit on the bottom of the sump which I think I recall Randy saying would be Magnesium Hydroxide..? but I cant find that post.
I am trying to clean it off and a blade makes no impression, so I assume it was a salt that an acid would dissolve. Have flooded the area with straight vinegar but after 2 hours it seems to have made no impression at all.
Advice please.? (alternatively I can tell the buyer I painted the sump floor..?)

20180719_133929_HDR.jpg
 

Brew12

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I have been using Randy's most recent recipe with NaOH for a few months. Am now pulling down tank and selling. Today was sump cleaning day..... every other day of my life will be better.
I have a very thin, very hard white deposit on the bottom of the sump which I think I recall Randy saying would be Magnesium Hydroxide..? but I cant find that post.
I am trying to clean it off and a blade makes no impression, so I assume it was a salt that an acid would dissolve. Have flooded the area with straight vinegar but after 2 hours it seems to have made no impression at all.
Advice please.? (alternatively I can tell the buyer I painted the sump floor..?)

20180719_133929_HDR.jpg
If the sump is glass I think I would try toilet bowl cleaner.

Hopefully Randy will be able to make a better recommendation.
 

juicemanatx

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When I had deposits, I just soaked a towel in vinegar and let it sit on the surface for 15 minutes or so, and it scrapped off like butter!
 

juicemanatx

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Randy...is it diluted 1:9 because that is most effective or for safe handling reasons..? have always been confused about this.

Safe handling. You wouldn’t want to use Strait acid
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

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Randy...is it diluted 1:9 because that is most effective or for safe handling reasons..? have always been confused about this.

Safe handling and fuming. It works faster the more concentrated it is.
 
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Mindi

Mindi

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Randy....I reckon it is healthy to be able to laugh at your really silly mistakes. I did have a thin hard deposit which wouldn't scrape off....but it only covered about 15% of my sump floor and was dissolved overnight in my first acid attack with vinegar. My second acid attach with HCl was aimed at the white foam underlay sitting under my sump. Needless to say the two acid attacks on the inside floor made no impression on this. You have to laugh. Hopefully others will not be bashful about posting their mistakes because they are unlikely to beat that one.
I'm off now, but want to thank you specifically (and others) for your endless patience communicating some necessary chemistry to non chemists. It has been a great help to me, so thanks. I am proud of where my reef got to and you owned the chemistry.
 
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