Acids for cleaning

[Myka]

So I have to clean a large amount of coralline-encrusted egg crate and powerheads. This will happen indoors. I'm looking for a safe and cost-effective option. I have a 20-gallon tote for this purpose.

Currently on hand vinegar (not cost effective for 20 gallons), muriatic acid (vapor issue?), and powdered citric acid (I know nothing about it, other than it wasn't cheap). I would like to make a solution that I can leave in the covered vat, and reuse when needed. Not sure if any of these acids will evaporate and become useless?

I believe a 1:100 ratio of muriatic acid to water is still 25x stronger than vinegar. That doesn't sound safe.

Which should I use? What is a safe, but effective dilution?

 

[Centerline]

So I have to clean a large amount of coralline-encrusted egg crate and powerheads. This will happen indoors. I'm looking for a safe and cost-effective option. I have a 20-gallon tote for this purpose.

Currently on hand vinegar (not cost effective for 20 gallons), muriatic acid (vapor issue?), and powdered citric acid (I know nothing about it). I would like to make a solution that I can leave in the covered vat, and reuse when needed. Not sure if any of these acids will evaporate and become useless?

Which should I use? What is a safe, but effective dilution?

Man I wanted to do the same thing myself - no luck. Now I just keep a jug or two of muriatic acid on hand.

 

[K. Steven]

I use powdered citric acid for cleaning, but if kept in solution long-term, a bacterial slime will grow. I only use it for short-term cleaning of pumps, tubing, and other equipment.

I generally use ½ cup per gallon of water, but a slightly stronger solution for tough build-up on pumps or for a faster cleaning.

 

[sghera64]

No HCl indoors. It is too volatile and will find its way to anything that can be corroded such as your duct work, hinges, the screws to the knobs of your drawers and cabinets, even the squirrel cage in your HVAC. It just keeps wandering through your house until it can react with something.

I prefer HCl for what you are doing, but use it outside on a breezy day (not in the garage).

Have you considered Lime-away? You just have to be sure to rinse it off completely. I use that on pumps, pipes and filter equipment.

If you can get phosphoric acid, it works as well as HCl (eats skin just as effectively too) but does not have the vapor pressure so (I think) it might okay for indoors.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I’d use 1 part muriatic acid diluted into about 10 parts water.

Comparing dilutions of it to vinegar are tricky since you can compare the initial pH which relates to initial dissolution rate ( 1:100 muriatic is stronger than straight vinegar in this regard) or the ability to fully dissolve calcium carbonate (1:15 muriatic acid to water matches vinegar in this regard).

 

[Myka]

I’d use 1 part muriatic acid diluted into about 10 parts water.

Comparing dilutions of it to vinegar are tricky since you can compare the initial pH which relates to initial dissolution rate ( 1:100 muriatic is stronger than straight vinegar in this regard) or the ability to fully dissolve calcium carbonate (1:15 muriatic acid to water matches vinegar in this regard).

Excellent, thank you Randy!

1:10 muriatic to water - I'm pretty sure I used less than that for stripping some old dead rock, and it was quite an offensive mixture. If I spill this mix on my clothes I'm in trouble, right?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Excellent, thank you Randy!

1:10 muriatic to water - I'm pretty sure I used less than that for stripping some old dead rock, and it was quite an offensive mixture. If I spill this mix on my clothes I'm in trouble, right?

Concentrated (as it is purchased) is nasty. The diluted stuff doesn't fume, but might ruin clothing if splattered on it and not rinsed off.

Make sure none of them gets splattered into your eyes.

 

[PatW]

Like Randy, I use diluted HCl, muriatic acid. I dilute it 1 to 10 outside. Once diluted, I can use it indoors nearly with impunity. It works very well removing cations .... positively charged ions. My saltwater mixing tank, a 44 gallon Brute trash can gets a bit of brown precipitate on the bottom. Diluted HCl removes it nicely.

 

[GoVols]

Concentrated (as it is purchased) is nasty. The diluted stuff doesn't fume, but might ruin clothing if splattered on it and not rinsed off.

Make sure none of them gets splattered into your eyes.

Randy,
If I wanted to use diluted muriatic acid to clean my 5 gallon salt mixing containers (jugs), from scum build up:
How long would the acid remain active, before I could safely pour that cleaning solution out?

Thanks, Freddie

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

If there is more acid than scum, it will remain acidic. If you are concerned about pipes, you can neutralize it with baking soda or washing soda. Just add it until it no longer bubbles on addition.

 

[Admann]

Muriatic acid in mild solutions will still etch any reactive metal much more than citric acid. Vinegar and muriatic acid stink. If you have a Seneye, the cleaner they sell for cleaning the in tank sensor is powdered citric acid to mix with water, works great, expensive. I found this place that sells citric acid in several different quantities from 1lb up to a truckload. No kidding. Found these guys www.bulkapothecary.com 50lb. with FedEx shipping is about 82 bucks, 8lb around 35 with shipping. It doesn't stink or fume unless you mix it much stronger than necessary for an aquarists needs.

 

[Myka]

For anyone else that's interested, a mix of 1 part acid to 20 parts water is sufficient if you can soak them for about 5-10 mins. 1 part acid to 10 parts water produces a mixture that dissolves THICK coralline in about 2 mins. Produces a lot of foam in the process too! The stronger the mix the more foam. When the mix is weaker it dissolves slower and less foam.

 

[kris2001]

Concentrated (as it is purchased) is nasty. The diluted stuff doesn't fume, but might ruin clothing if splattered on it and not rinsed off.

Make sure none of them gets splattered into your eyes.

Hi Again Randy!
If I mix muriatic acid : water ( 1: 10 ratio) outside , stir it for 10 min... Bring it inside my basement where my DT is and store the dil. acid mix:
1) How long will the solution be effective in storage , so as to clean Pumps etc without damaging the parts in them?
2) Will there be a bacterial slime build up as it does in Vinegar solutions over time?
3) Is it true HCL gas can corrode anything in my basement? The gas will escape only when opening the bottle /mixing right ( that I do outside) ?

BIG THANKS!
Kris

 

[PatW]

I used to do nutrient cycling research in ecosystems. I routinely used 5% HCl to rinse out everything to remove any cations hanging onto the surfaces. We had numerous nalgene squirt bottles of 5% in the lab that we used for this purpose. Properly sealed In a cool location, I would think that your stock solution would have a long shelf life certainly months. We never had any problem but we used our stuff up pretty well so it had a storage time of days or weeks.

 

[kris2001]

I used to do nutrient cycling research in ecosystems. I routinely used 5% HCl to rinse out everything to remove any cations hanging onto the surfaces. We had numerous nalgene squirt bottles of 5% in the lab that we used for this purpose. Properly sealed In a cool location, I would think that your stock solution would have a long shelf life certainly months. We never had any problem but we used our stuff up pretty well so it had a storage time of days or weeks.

Just confirming, 5% HCL is 1:20 acid to water mix right?

Does it matter if i use rodi waste water?

Is this solution any better than vinegar from store in cleaning pumps

 

[PatW]

Yes, 5% is one in twenty. But we were using it to just wash off trace nutrients. In your application, 10% makes more sense.

 

[Marek]

I use both muriatic acid and citric acid depending on the situation. I agree using muriatic acid outdoors is much safer; even just for your sinus and lungs... huffed it once by accident and regretted it fast.

 

[Dlefty]

I've used Acid Magic on my reef equipment for a decade. It definitely cuts down the caustic fumes but I still use gloves and use it in a well ventilated room. It is a form of Muriatic Acid and is used in cleaning pools and spas among other things.

 

[sghera64]

Hi Again Randy!
If I mix muriatic acid : water ( 1: 10 ratio) outside , stir it for 10 min... Bring it inside my basement where my DT is and store the dil. acid mix:
1) How long will the solution be effective in storage , so as to clean Pumps etc without damaging the parts in them?
2) Will there be a bacterial slime build up as it does in Vinegar solutions over time?
3) Is it true HCL gas can corrode anything in my basement? The gas will escape only when opening the bottle /mixing right ( that I do outside) ?

BIG THANKS!
Kris

I do 5:1 water:muriatic. I mix outside in the wind. I store near my tank in an old plastic seachem bottle with a foldable spout. It stores for years and does not fume at this concentration.

 

[sghera64]

Just confirming, 5% HCL is 1:20 acid to water mix right?

Does it matter if i use rodi waste water?

Is this solution any better than vinegar from store in cleaning pumps

The concentration of HCl is usually 30%-40% and the rest 70%-60% is water (H2O).

So a 1:20 is about a 1.5% HCl solution and not a 5% HCl solution.