Vinegar in a reef tank

[boobookitty]

Howdy...

I managed to screw up and kill everything in my prop tank last night (don't ask), so I'm taking the opportunity to clean it out and rebuild it. My idea is to soak it with vinegar overnight to get rid of deposits, etc., then fill and empty it again several times before filling it with salt water and reconnecting it to the main tank and go.

I'll be able to get it mostly empty before reconnecting it, but because it's stuck where it is I can't take it out and thoroughly dry it. If there is a trace of vinegar in the water that is in the sand at the bottom, then I fill it back up and connect to the main tank, will it cause an issue in the main tank?

The prop tank is 40g, the main is 240...I'd fill and drain it several times so there would only be traces of vinegar left if any, but I don't want to hose up the main tank so help would be appreciated...

Arthur

[Ritten]

It should be just fine. That is how I cleaned one of my tanks as well. Some use small amounts of vinegar inside the tank to "nuke" apstasia.

[BlAcK_PeRcUlA]

Vinegar is one of the carbon sources used by people to fuel bacteria growth and lower their nutrients. You can also add it to kalkwasser to increase the solubility. Unless it's a large amount (acidic) you shouldn't have problems.

[Jflip2002]

Vinegar is safer to use than any solvent out there. Its the recommended way to go....

[boobookitty]

Very cool, thanks all.

Arthur