would you give BRS reef saver dry rock an acid bath?

[Devaji108]

in the process of a new build I an think i am gonna go 50% dry rock to get the aqua scape i want and 50% really nice Florida LR to get the "goddies"

so my question is do you guys think i should do an acid bath on the BRS reef saver rock. something like vinegar or muric acid?
I know a lot of ppl just rise and add...

but the pukalni and other should differently be acid washed correct?

another question I have for you all is if you used mosly dry rock with little LR to seed how long did it take to be covered in colorful Coraline?

cheers

[oscarinw]

I would. I don't know anything from their rock but I think it's worth the hassle to avoid potential issues down the road.
For coraline to colonize your system, best case scenario 8-10 weeks. Worst case scenario, you won't get it. This is mostly dependent on what kind of coraline gets introduced, light, chemistry, etc.

[sirreal63]

If it is dry rock, I would give it an acid bath.

[MondoBongo]

i gave mine an acid bath. who doesn't love playing with acid? just like breaking bad.

[girlygears13]

I didn't give mine the acid bath, and had a really hard time with algae for almost 6 months. Live and learn, and then scrub!!!

[AFK1911]

I put my BRS dry rock (Reef saver & Pukani) a vinegar bath over night. I also let it sit in water with heat and circulation for a few weeks while a dosed PhosFree. I have since set up my tank and still measuring about .14 P04 on Hanna ULR Checker. I will say that when I set up the tank, I added 20 lbs. dry rock, about 5 pounds live rock, and 40 lbs Ocan Direct live sand and it cycled in 10 days.

[Devaji108]

nice!... I was thinking of doing vinegar too. however not trying to rush but dont have the space to let the rock set for weeks, so I heard that muriatic acid is a lot quicker.

also from what i read seams most ppl dont do much but wash there reef saver rock. I just want to be on the save side here.

anyone else with thoughts ?

[Devaji108]

so it seams that all who posted are in favor. be nice to hear some feedback from those that did not treat the BRS reef savor rock....

[dkeller_nc]

If you want to use hydrochloric acid ("muriatic acid"), go buy it from a pool supply outlet. The muriatic acid sold in home improvement stores for concrete etching is far too impure to be used for this purpose.

And, if you've never used this stuff before, realize that it's really hazardous. The concentrated acid in the bottle will instantly burn your skin if you spill it on you, and the fumes from opening/pouring it into the water will burn your sinuses and lungs if you get a deep breath of it. Finally, the heat of dissolution for a concentrated mineral acid like hydrochloric is huge, so you must add the acid to a good amount of water, never add water to concentrated acid - it will instantly boil the water, spraying you and the surroundings with acid.

As to whether you need to wash this with acid, realize that "Reef Saver" rock is fossilized, quarried rock that is then power-washed to open up pores. So there's no remains of recently deceased living creatures on the outside like there is with dry rock that's recently been in the ocean (like Pukani).

That doesn't mean that you can't give it a quick acid rinse just to be cautious, but whatever phosphate the rock has is actually apart of the composition of the rock, and an acid bath will simply dissolve the outer few millimeters, exposing more rock with phosphate underneath.

[Devaji108]

^ thanks for the info..yeah I knew it was pretty harsh stuff...oh I got the stuff form HD for concert. guess that is going back next time i am over the there.

going a search for BRS reef saver seams that most ppl just washed it real good and in to the tank it went.

so maybe just a simple vinegar bath might be a safer for me and just as good way to go. must admit here that I have not done much looking into it just found out about it the other day, but i like it think it amazing stuff. :) so if it will do the job then I would so much rather do that!

any one done the to there BRS reef saver? did you find it made any difference at all?

[sirreal63]

I used vinegar for the first bath on my Marco in 2007, I don't think it really helped a lot. I have subsequently given all of the dry rock in my tank three separate Muriatic baths, and some of the rock has gone through 4 baths. After the last bath my rock became very light and the pores in it seem to have finally opened. I am convinced it is now helping with de-nitrification. Prior to the last bath I always had to employ a carbon source to help with nitrates, now I have a hard time showing nitrates. The good side of that is I can feed heavier and only have to use a little vinegar every month or so to keep nitrates around 5, which is where I prefer them to be.

Though it is not the same rock, if it is mined rock it can have the same issue with phosphates from fertilizers that percolate down into the soil around the rock. I see no valid reason to not give them a proper acid bath. If it lightens the rock a little this is not really a bad thing. Here is a well documented method for doing the bath.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1914426