Jestersix

Muriatic Acid Bath

CookieJar

CookieJar

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I literally took the plunge with the Muriatic Acid Bath with a couple of my prized rocks (1 from Arnold) that had gotten overtaken by Red People Eaters, Green Palys and Birdsnest. As much as I liked those corals, I like other corals more and the palys and RPE were especially prolific at spreading. Anyway, I put the rock in the bath, appx. 8 gallons tank water & almost 1 gallon muriatic acid. I used caution by drying the rock overnight and keeping the rock and tub w/ saltwater outside at all times. Whilst pouring the acid it, fumes came out and a lot of bubbles, I kept my exposure to a minimum.
The questions I have for those that have done this method is how long do you keep the rocks in the bath? After the bath do you let them dry, rinse them w/ tap water, let them sit in RO/DI water or ??? I want to make sure the rocks are 100% ok before reintroducing it in the tank. Also, is the tub useable again for livestock if it's well rinsed?

Pic a couple minutes after Muriatic acid poured into tub. You can see how serious this stuff is, worse than witches brew!
 
After you are done with the dip, I would put the rock into an water bath (RO if you want) and monitor the pH. Most of the residual acid will nutralize with the rock itself. Monitor the pH to know when it is neutralized enough.

FYI, muriatic acid is simply a prescribed dilution of hydrochloric acid. Its byproducts are reef safe, however the acid is really potent and can cause SEVERE burns. Wear proper protection (gloves, glasses at min. A lab apron if you have it. Error on the side safety ;))
 
JAR said:
Of course you know that the rock is being dissolved and it could break more easily.
Click to expand...

Meh depends on the porosity of the rock and the actual make up of the rock (not all are pure coral of nature). I've done it much longer and with much more then he's doing and the rock was no different. I still couldn't break it with my hand. This was with Manodo Rock, something that hasn't been on the market in 10 years :)

Watch the fumes, bad bad stuff.
 
Unless it is taking the layers off shells, then it has a bunch of other nasty stuff (I use it to clean up ab shells)... or if you are melting palythoas with it, then you'll also have a lot of other nasty stuff in it.
 
Yeah, I know it's nasty stuff. I'll use sticks to lift the rock out and if it crumbles, cracks, breaks or whatever it's toast. If I lose it, it's still addition by subtration.
Bryan- I saved a frag of the of birdsnest and I'll be happy to give it to you at the swap. With any luck you can grow it out and pass out future frags. :D
 
Could birdsnest be branching tribbles?

Meanwhile, the intergalactic trader Cyrano Jones gives Uhura a trilling creature called a tribble. She brings it to the Enterprise, where it promptly begins reproducing. Jones also tries to sell tribbles to Klingons on the Station, but the tribbles respond by emitting high-pitched yelps. Trouble breaks out between Klingons and members of the Enterprise's crew, also on shore leave, when one of the Klingons compares Earthers to Regulan blood worms. This infuriates Chekov, who then becomes more upset when the Klingon goes on to call Kirk a swaggering, overbearing, tin-plated, dictator with delusions of godhood. However, Scott holds Chekov back, even after the Klingon calls Kirk a Denebian slime devil. However, when the Klingon calls the Enterprise a sagging old rust-bucket which is designed like a garbage scow, Scott punches him, precipitating a bar room brawl. When Kirk questions his crew, no one admits to starting the fight. However, when Kirk questions Scott alone, he admits that he started the fight, and also reveals that he refrained from fighting while Kirk was being insulted, but was forced to take action when the Klingons insulted the Enterprise.

The tribbles begin proliferating throughout the Enterprise, and Kirk even accidentally sits on one while taking a seat in his command chair. Kirk orders Uhura to clean the tribbles off the ship, and beams down to the space station to confront Cyrano Jones. However, since the only animals it is illegal to transport are dangerous ones (and tribbles are not dangerous), Kirk can do nothing.

After Kirk finds that tribbles have spread aboard the Enterprise through air vents, he becomes concerned that they may have infested the grain storage lockers on the space station as well. His hunch proves correct, and opening the overhead storage bin produces a rain of tribbles on Kirk's head. Spock calculates that 1,771,561 tribbles are likely to exist on the station, assuming each tribble has a litter of 10 every 12 hours over a period of 3 days. However, Spock notes that, inexplicably, many of the tribbles are dead.

When the station transporter room is being cleared of tribbles, one of them yelps at Baris's assistant Darvin. Kirk verifies that tribbles coo for humans (and even Vulcans; "obviously the tribbles are very perceptive creatures," according to Spock), but yelp for Klingons. He then asks McCoy to perform a tricorder scan of Darvin. McCoy verifies that Darvin is a Klingon, and also reveals that the grain was poisoned. Darvin admits to being a Klingon agent and to be responsible for poisoning the grain. Darvin is arrested, Kirk tells the Klingons to leave Federation territory, and Jones is ordered to pick up every tribble on the space station, a task which Spock estimates will take 17.9 years.
 
Next swap is a custom event right? I'm going as one of the Borg!!!
 
Oh, so I'll be the only one in an actual costume (custom costume)? Dang it, I knew you were joking when you told me it was a costume event :(
 
This thread has become much more entertaining derailed than on track, but I have a question about the original topic- after muriatic acid, is letting the rocks soak in tap water for 1+ days and cleaning them off enough before I put back in my tank? or do I need to do anything else to rid the acid before putting back into my tank?
 
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