vinegar?

[DNickell]

I've seen several posts about using vinegar to clean all sorts of things that go in the tank. I'm cautious about what I put in my tank, so:

What sort of vinegar should be used?

How do you make sure all the vinegar is gone before putting the newly cleaned thingy back in the tank?

How risky is putting something soaked in vinegar into a reef tank? Do I need to worry about pH, calcuim or alk levels being thrown off? I mean, if it dissolves calcium deposits on powerheads and such, what does it do to the water chemistry?

[Billybeau1]

The little vinegar residue left over after cleaning should have little to no effect on tank chemistry.

Some reefers actually use vinegar in their limewater to allow more lime to go into solution. About 45ml per gallon is usually recommended, so you can see the little left on your equipment after cleaning should not do a thing.

Regular white vinegar from the grocery store is fine for cleaning. :)

[jennmac415]

I always use white vinegar to clean pumps, skimmers etc...never had a problem.

[reeftard73]

+1 for cleaning crap out with vinegar. Its cheap, easy and safe.

[majawestphal]

Also use vinegar to clean and have had no problem.

[onano]

White Vinegar is awesome for cleaning most any thing tank related. I also use it for mixing my Kalk solution. It allows more kalk to be dissolved and lowers the solutions effect on your Ph reducing the chance o a huge spike. I keep a gallon on hand at all times.

[DNickell]

How long should a powerhead, for instance, be soaked in a vinegar/water solution? Do you turn the powerhead on while in the solution? Or just let it soak? (I'm assuming you'd want to put it in bucket of water and run it for a bit to let it blow out whatever sediment came loose.)

[jansenwrasse]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13028161#post13028161 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DNickell
How long should a powerhead, for instance, be soaked in a vinegar/water solution? Do you turn the powerhead on while in the solution? Or just let it soak? (I'm assuming you'd want to put it in bucket of water and run it for a bit to let it blow out whatever sediment came loose.)

I would leave it in the sol for a couple of hours running personally. After that take it to the sink and dis-assemble the pump and clean all of the components in tap, and If you are crazy enough after that you could rinse in RO/DI but I do not see a need for this step :)