The Miracle Tank

[Eagle_Steve]

Ok, so while thinking on a conf call that about made me go to sleep. I need to clean out the fish barn so I have room for the 7’ frag tank. I have a ton of stuff in there to make diy rocks. The problem is the 2-3 months it has to cure before use. Well, sometimes the ph drops to 8.3 before then, but we will say 2-3 months.

If I was to make the rock and add in some acid while it soaked it may speed that up some?????The issue is the lye in the mix is high ph. Vinegar helps shorten the time by about a month, but it takes a lot of visage to do that.

Does anyone think that is possible? If so, what acid?

Just trying to get the 4 bags of white Portland cement, 8 bags of crushed oyster shells, 6 bags of sand and 2 bags of water softener salt out of the way lol. Wow, listing that out, that is a lot of rocks I could make.

 

[fishguy242]

Ok, so while thinking on a conf call that about made me go to sleep. I need to clean out the fish barn so I have room for the 7’ frag tank. I have a ton of stuff in there to make diy rocks. The problem is the 2-3 months it has to cure before use. Well, sometimes the ph drops to 8.3 before then, but we will say 2-3 months.

If I was to make the rock and add in some acid while it soaked it may speed that up some?????The issue is the lye in the mix is high ph. Vinegar helps shorten the time by about a month, but it takes a lot of visage to do that.

Does anyone think that is possible? If so, what acid?

Just trying to get the 4 bags of white Portland cement, 8 bags of crushed oyster shells, 6 bags of sand and 2 bags of water softener salt out of the way lol. Wow, listing that out, that is a lot of rocks I could make.

uneducated guess "citric" but would stick with vinegar jmo

 

[najer]

uneducated guess "citric" but would stick with vinegar jmo

Interesting, I am going to swap to citric when I can find it.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

uneducated guess "citric" but would stick with vinegar jmo

I was thinking that. Citric acid powder is cheap and I could make it be cheaper than vinegar. Just wondering about Muriatic acid or something else, as it is used for dry rock baths. Was thinking couple weeks in RODI then hit with acid for a day or so and then RODI again till ph drops. Using RODI is key anyways. It has a low ph to begin with, so that helps.

Now my brain ya kicked on and I am wondering about co2 injection to speed up the reduction of ph from the lye lol.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Interesting, I am going to swap to citric when I can find it.

I clean all of my equipment with it. Works great and typically does not harm softer plastics. For example, none of my MPs have ever seen vinegar and I have all kinds of models and generations. Not one single compromised magnet in any of them.

 

[brett_schn]

Well looks like I can’t pour all my money into my fish tank :/. My truck has been acting up. Been driving it wayyy to much more then it can handle. Oh well. Time to save for another truck that loves the many highway miles and has better then my current 6-10mpg average

 

[fishguy242]

just unsure how will it nutrialize??same w muriatic??now when i clean tubs or holding tanks w muriatic i give a baking soda rinse

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Well looks like I can’t pour all my money into my fish tank :/. My truck has been acting up. Been driving it wayyy to much more then it can handle. Oh well. Time to save for another truck that loves the many highway miles and has better then my current 6-10mpg average

What kind of truck and what is it doing?

 

[Eagle_Steve]

just unsure how will it nutrialize??same w muriatic??now when i clean tubs or holding tanks w muriatic i give a baking soda rinse

That’s where soaking in RODI for more time after and then doing water changes on top of that comes in. Dilution is a solution lol.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

That’s where soaking in RODI for more time after and then doing water changes on top of that comes in. Dilution is a solution lol.

Either way, I am doing nothing with the bags of stuff, so could try it and just document it. Worst case is the rock dissolves lol.

 

[brett_schn]

What kind of truck and what is it doing?

1998 f150. Been maintained super well it’s whole life but it’s been a fun truck on and off road lol. 122k on it. It’s been having some transmission issues shifting really hard and sometimes whining. 2 days ago I was sitting at a light and the engine just cut out. It started back up. I’m probably going to drop the fuel tank and put a new fuel pump and Change all the fuel filters soon even tho that just got done 2 years and 30,000 miles ago
Edit forgot to put that it’s the 4.6l triton and ford AOD tranny

 

[Eagle_Steve]

1998 f150. Been maintained super well it’s whole life but it’s been a fun truck on and off road lol. 122k on it. It’s been having some transmission issues shifting really hard and sometimes whining. 2 days ago I was sitting at a light and the engine just cut out. It started back up. I’m probably going to drop the fuel tank and put a new fuel pump and Change all the fuel filters soon even tho that just got done 2 years and 30,000 miles ago

4.6 truck? If so, you may have some gunk in the trans valve body (common issue) I have a 97 4.6 with 372k and it is a tank.

For the cutting out, any cel? Maybe pull codes to see if there is one pending. It starting back up does not sound like a fuel pump. Those pumps in those trucks are tough.

 

[najer]

1998 f150. Been maintained super well it’s whole life but it’s been a fun truck on and off road lol. 122k on it. It’s been having some transmission issues shifting really hard and sometimes whining. 2 days ago I was sitting at a light and the engine just cut out. It started back up. I’m probably going to drop the fuel tank and put a new fuel pump and Change all the fuel filters soon even tho that just got done 2 years and 30,000 miles ago
Edit forgot to put that it’s the 4.6l triton and ford AOD tranny

English person asks, so that is basically a filter off V8 or something right?!

 

[Eagle_Steve]

4.6 truck? If so, you may have some gunk in the trans valve body (common issue) I have a 97 4.6 with 372k and it is a tank.

For the cutting out, any cel? Maybe pull codes to see if there is one pending. It starting back up does not sound like a fuel pump. Those pumps in those trucks are tough.

For the AOD, I say drop the pan, change the filter, and top up with new fluid. DO NOT FLUSH THE TRANSMISSION!!!! The flush removes too much too fast. It will not strip all the material off the clutches as people state, but the removal of all the gunk at once does not allow the trans enough time to adjust and then the clutches burn up.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

English person asks, so that is basically a filter off V8 or something right?!

4600 cc overhead cam v8.

 

[brett_schn]

4.6 truck? If so, you may have some gunk in the trans valve body (common issue) I have a 97 4.6 with 372k and it is a tank.

For the cutting out, any cel? Maybe pull codes to see if there is one pending. It starting back up does not sound like a fuel pump. Those pumps in those trucks are tough.

The fuel pump went bad 2 years ago when my buddy owned it. Only codes I pulled is my o2 sensor bc my cats are cut out just need to use some spark plug nonfouler

 

[Eagle_Steve]

The fuel pump went bad 2 years ago when my buddy owned it. Only codes I pulled is my o2 sensor bc my cats are cut out just need to use some spark plug nonfouler

If it is an aftermarket pump, then it may be due again. Airtech and such pumps are crap, especially if you run a tank low all the time. I suggest doing a motorcraft pump if you are going to do it.

 

[brett_schn]

English person asks, so that is basically a filter off V8 or something right?!

For the AOD, I say drop the pan, change the filter, and top up with new fluid. DO NOT FLUSH THE TRANSMISSION!!!! The flush removes too much too fast. It will not strip all the material off the clutches as people state, but the removal of all the gunk at once does not allow the trans enough time to adjust and then the clutches burn up.

Ok maybe I’ll try that. Gotta talk to my dad. Also is ur truck super sluggish? Mine I have to have my foot to the floor to turn onto a road and it barely gets up and goes. It’s got a ton of torque but it’s sluggish if that makes sense

 

[brett_schn]

If it is an aftermarket pump, then it may be due again. Airtech and such pumps are crap, especially if you run a tank low all the time. I suggest doing a motorcraft pump if you are going to do it.

Yep I do usually run low. Lemme pull up my file to see what pump it is

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Ok maybe I’ll try that. Gotta talk to my dad. Also is ur truck super sluggish? Mine I have to have my foot to the floor to turn onto a road and it barely gets up and goes. It’s got a ton of torque but it’s sluggish if that makes sense

Nope. Mine will light the tires up for days lol. Mine is a 2wd though.