How many days to soak rocks in vinegar???

[David Cher]

1 day ???

 

[AdamNC]

3 days is good then another 3 day soak in water. Then you’ll want to set it out to dry out for about 2 weeks.

 

[mfinn]

Why are you soaking rock in vinegar?

 

[Jeepguy242]

Probably to kill off problems like green star polyps hair algae and aptasia

 

[Gareth elliott]

If your goal is to dissolve the outer layer of rock to quicken the organic removal i would do hours not days.

Honestly i would just soak in fw and empty each week. For a few weeks, after say week 3 start testing for nitrate and phosphate.

Could also do 1 week of bleach soaking to start.


When both are as close to 0 as possible start curing them in sw with bacteria and a food source.

 

[mfinn]

Probably to kill off problems like green star polyps hair algae and aptasia

If that is the case, there is a better way.
I'm curious what the op has to say.

 

[Jeepguy242]

If that is the case, there is a better way.
I'm curious what the op has to say.

What’s your better way?

 

[mfinn]

What’s your better way?

Bleach

 

[Jeepguy242]

Bleach

I do both

 

[Transporter]

I soaked all of my rock (from a severely neglected 180) in 50/50 vinegar/ro for one week, then soaked in 1:10 bleach/ro for 3 days, then straight ro for 2 weeks (while changing water out 50% every 3 or 4 days) then in a cure of salt water for 2 months. All of this was done with a power head in the containers.
Why ? Because there is not any 1 set/best/perfect way to do anything in this hobby, and that is what I decided was best. Maybe overkill, but I wanted to make sure nothing on the rock survived. And so far, it has worked well.
Just my $.02

 

[don_chuwish]

Bleach, vinegar, either/or/both all good. (I just don't think muriatic acid is worth the trouble.)
I basically do it by feel, but typically is 24 hrs in vinegar:water, maybe 1:5 or so, with a powerhead for movement. Blast the rocks clean with a hose and inspect, pull off, scrub off anything. If any look like they need more, do another 24 hrs. Hose off again and inspect. Then you can start on curing, first with RO, then heated salt water, doing water changes and testing for nitrate/phosphate.