Citric Acid to clean rocks?

[mav3rick478]

So what is everyone thought about using citric acid to clean some now dead rock that had been sitting on a shelf on the side of the house for over a year? I'd rather not use muriatic about since we are just renting and don't want to have anything bad happen to the yards or my dog.

 

[Auquanut]

Good question! I hadn't thought of that, but seems plausible to me. I'd be interested to hear opinions.

 

[cvrle1]

Quite a few people used it for cleaning equipment, but not sure if anyone really used it for cleaning dead rocks. Would think it would be more costly than bleach or muriatic acid (looked at getting some citric acid to clean inside of skimmer)

Regardless, following along

 

[TriggerFinger]

Are you against vinegar? I had good luck with vinegar soaking followed by bleach and then saltwater soaking

 

[mfinn]

If the rock has old algae or other unwanted organic matter bleach is the best option.

 

[pecan2phat]

Not sure if you should be using citric acid on aragonite rock. I would just fill a vessel with tap water and add a little bit of bleach and let it sit with a small powerhead for a few days before draining, rinsing, de-chlorinating and air drying.

 

[Salt Addiction]

Not sure how it would go tbh, given the rock is aragonite and has a calcium base to it so it may not react well to getting doused in acid. Let us know how it goes though if you decide to do it!

 

[minus9]

Depends on the rock, but most likely it will turn the rock to mush or soften it up. I would just use bleach. I had some snail shells and rubble that was covered in turf algae and I decided to try some leftover citric acid that I had used for my pumps. I left it over night and the next day I washed it off and everything crumbled away. I've used bleach in the past with no problems at all.

 

[mav3rick478]

Are you against vinegar? I had good luck with vinegar soaking followed by bleach and then saltwater soaking

Not against vinegar per say, I’ve used it for years cleaning equipment and just recently switched to citric acid. Bought a decent sized bag of it recently, so was wondering if it could be used to clean rocks also.

Not sure how it would go tbh, given the rock is aragonite and has a calcium base to it so it may not react well to getting doused in acid. Let us know how it goes though if you decide to do it!

I think I might just try it out with some of the rocks first to test and see what happens.

Depends on the rock, but most likely it will turn the rock to mush or soften it up. I would just use bleach. I had some snail shells and rubble that was covered in turf algae and I decided to try some leftover citric acid that I had used for my pumps. I left it over night and the next day I washed it off and everything crumbled away. I've used bleach in the past with no problems at all.

Thanks for the info. I know its a mixture of rocks, some pukani and some base and some other. I’m gonna test a few rocks and see what happens. Maybe only use half the amount of citric acid per gallon of water.

 

[TriggerFinger]

You can use citric acid to clean around the house too. I use it in my dishwasher (stainless steel inside), on my stainless appliances and around the chrome faucet fixtures. If you’re REALLY bored you could polish silverware with it too :)

 

[cvrle1]

From what I read and saw, Muriatic Acid will destroy 10-20% of rock when rocks are cleaning in it. This depends on acid to water mixture and how long rock is left inside that mixture. I didnt like idea of losing 20% of rocks I bought, so I used bleach. It worked out really good.

I am guessing Muriatic acid is more potent than Citric (pure guess, no idea), so loss may not be as high.

 

[mav3rick478]

You can use citric acid to clean around the house too. I use it in my dishwasher (stainless steel inside), on my stainless appliances and around the chrome faucet fixtures. If you’re REALLY bored you could polish silverware with it too :)

You sound like my wife when I asked her to buy the citric acid through Amazon ;)

From what I read and saw, Muriatic Acid will destroy 10-20% of rock when rocks are cleaning in it. This depends on acid to water mixture and how long rock is left inside that mixture. I didnt like idea of losing 20% of rocks I bought, so I used bleach. It worked out really good.

I am guessing Muriatic acid is more potent than Citric (pure guess, no idea), so loss may not be as high.

That was also one of the reasons I did not want to use muriatic acid and having to neutralize it afterwards. Citric acid isn't as potent and is easily diluted and I don't feel bad about it going down the drain or the down the street sewer drains.

 

[TriggerFinger]

You sound like my wife when I asked her to buy the citric acid through Amazon ;)



That was also one of the reasons I did not want to use muriatic acid and having to neutralize it afterwards. Citric acid isn't as potent and is easily diluted and I don't feel bad about it going down the drain or the down the street sewer drains.

Lol because I am a wife :) just trying to help her, I mean you out

 

[nano-mex]

Is this process especially for recently dead LR or for any dry rock in general?

 

[cvrle1]

Is this process especially for recently dead LR or for any dry rock in general?

If rock at any time was alive, and then taken out of the water for longer periods of time, it should be bleached, acid washed, etc. to get rid of all the dead matter.

 

[nano-mex]

If rock at any time was alive, and then taken out of the water for longer periods of time, it should be bleached, acid washed, etc. to get rid of all the dead matter.

Oh I see, I was a little bit confused, but that clears any doubt I had, thank you!!

 

[Udest]

another suggestion too if you have an ant hill as weird as it sounds they will pick off alot of crud inside the rocks then I'd just either plain ol bleach or peroxide them.

 

[mav3rick478]

Ok, I'm testing it with one rock that's about the size of my palm and very light. So light that it floated for a few minutes when I placed it in the bucket with 2 gallons of water and .25 cup of citric acid which equates to 1/2 dose that was recommended when cleaning powerheads. Going to leave it in there for 24 hours and see what happens.

 

[mav3rick478]

Drum roll please....
Rock was soaked for probably 26 hours in 2 gallons of water and 1/4 cup citric acid which is basically half the recommended dose to clean equipment. In a 5 gallon bucket with a powerhead running and no lid inside my garage. Looks like it dissolved material and to my surprise the rock was actually coral skeleton as you will see in the pictures below but it still was pretty solid just soft around the outer perimeter for obvious reasons. Pics will be before and then afters one after the other. So like @minus9 stated earlier it does eat away but probably not as much as muriatic acid but I also only did a half dose. But the plus side is, you shouldn't need a neutralizer to dispose of the waste water properly just dilute it and no harmful fumes. In conclusion I think it is a viable option as long as you don't mind losing some surface area based on how long you soak the rocks.

 

[Drewbacca]

I guess the real question isnt.. did it make it look clean on the outside?, but rather, Did it dissolve away/off all the organic matter that will leach phosphates into your water? Only way to truly know answers to citric acid viable solution? Or citric acid VS. Other Solutions is: to take equal pieces of the same old crusty crustation carcus caked crevis, disgusting dead dried out den of dehydrated aptasia, Fish food & feces filled ..rock...
And soak them in each solution, then rinse and place in heated circulating sw for same time... and then test water for phosphates. ..and see which one gets the chicken dinner!