Safer rock curing?

[salty160]

Is there an alternative to immersing live rock in muriatic acid? I have some live rock I left outside for almost half a year and I'm looking to bring it back to reef safe standards.

Thanks

[downbeach]

You could use vinegar, its a weaker acid and will take longer to etch the rock, but it's also safer to handle.

[salty160]

Thanks, so I'm Gona soak the rock in a 1 to 10 bleach to water ratio for a day, followed by a 1 to 10 vinegar bath.

Besides for that should I take any other precautions before putting rock back into my display?

[bertoni]

I suspect that you'll need to use a vinegar stronger solution. Vinegar is weak acid. I'd probably try at least a 1:1 mixture. You could soak the rock in some RO/DI for a day or so, and see whether the acid treatment is needed. Also, lanthanum chloride can be used to strip the phosphate from the rock, although the treatment takes longer, perhaps a few weeks. You can cure the rock while treating it, though.

[salty160]

Alright thanks, I'll use a higher vinegar to water solution. So this is what I plan on doing: a 24 hr bath in 1 to 10 bleach to tap water, another 24 hr bath with rodi and prime to neutralize the bleach, and a 24 hr bath with a higher vinegar to Rodi bath after that.

Grocery store white vinegar would be fine I assume, or would I need a stronger cleaning vinegar.

[dkeller_nc]

If you're going to etch the rock with an acid bath, whether with vinegar or a dilute HCl mixture, there's no reason to bleach the rock. The acid will kill anything that might happen to be on it, and will also strip the outer surface and any organics adsorbed to it.

If you do go the bleach route, be sure to thoroughly rinse the rock before you put it in acid, and do the whole procedure outside. Mixing acid and bleach can generate chlorine gas.

[salty160]

I know I'm being alittle repetitive here but plain old distilled white vinegar from the super market would work...


Thanks

[BlackTip]

I started with dry Fiji rock. I pressure washed it and hand cleaned it. I put it in a large container of salt water, a heater, and a powerhead. I covered it to reduce light exposure, and let let cure for couple of months in the garage. I did partial water change every couple of weeks or so. No major problem so far.