Cooking rock with acid after bleach?

[prodman]

I have read up on quite a few old threads about this but now that I’m in the middle of it I was hoping to clarify a few things. I’ve done a 48hr 10-1 bleach soak and now have been filling the containers with clean water and adding copious de chlorinator. The question is do I have to get every hint of bleach smell off before doing a brief 20-1 acid bath?
TIA

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

No. The odor is not indicative of bleach residue.

 

[prodman]

No. The odor is not indicative of bleach residue.

Oh ok. I wasn’t sure. It’s certainly not as sting as it was when it was soaking. Thanks

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I would be cautious if it still smells of bleach when acid exposing it because that mixture causes chlorine gas. Folks have been killed by mixing bleach and acid.

 

[JayM]

It takes very little acid mixed into very little bleach to cause a pretty nasty reaction. Be safe, not sorry.

 

[Cell]

For future reference, if you are planning on an acid wash, you can skip the bleaching. We usually choose one or the other, not both. A week long bleach bath has always worked well for me.

 

[prodman]

I would be cautious if it still smells of bleach when acid exposing it because that mixture causes chlorine gas. Folks have been killed by mixing bleach and acid.

Well I wish I would have seen that earlier. But I’m still here. (Assuming the risk was gas exposure during the process) I did do the acid bath last night outside with fans and and a slight breeze.

I only bleached for 36-48 hrs, different batches. Then after many de chlorinating rinses. I did 15-1 acid for about an hour. They had decent reaction in the mixture but didn’t lose very much rock which was my goal.

They did not have hardy any signs of organic matter when I purchased the rocks. They real ocean live rock ( mix of Fiji, Tonga etc) but out of a tank for a week. They supposedly had never been exposed to chemicals either. So my goal was to clean them to be safe. And I hoped the very strong bleach 36-48 soak in bleach would suffice. All sponges and small amount of algae came off. Then I wanted the acid to remove any potential built up phosphate and any copper or medications that all though I trust the source I figured it was worth it.

The rocks appear very clean but not all are completely white. I’m know wondering if I’m done or need to repeat any steps. After doing both I found the acid more manageable than the bleaching. But am open to suggestion

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Well I wish I would have seen that earlier. But I’m still here. (Assuming the risk was gas exposure during the process) I did do the acid bath last night outside with fans and and a slight breeze.

I only bleached for 36-48 hrs, different batches. Then after many de chlorinating rinses. I did 15-1 acid for about an hour. They had decent reaction in the mixture but didn’t lose very much rock which was my goal.

They did not have hardy any signs of organic matter when I purchased the rocks. They real ocean live rock ( mix of Fiji, Tonga etc) but out of a tank for a week. They supposedly had never been exposed to chemicals either. So my goal was to clean them to be safe. And I hoped the very strong bleach 36-48 soak in bleach would suffice. All sponges and small amount of algae came off. Then I wanted the acid to remove any potential built up phosphate and any copper or medications that all though I trust the source I figured it was worth it.

The rocks appear very clean but not all are completely white. I’m know wondering if I’m done or need to repeat any steps. After doing both I found the acid more manageable than the bleaching. But am open to suggestion

I expect it is done. Residual material after those processes will generally not be any problem.

In general, I recommend acid if the goal is phosphate or copper removal, and bleach if the goal is removing of organic matter.

 

[prodman]

I expect it is done. Residual material after those processes will generally not be any problem.

In general, I recommend acid if the goal is phosphate or copper removal, and bleach if the goal is removing of organic matter.

Thank you for the reply. That was my understanding and why I did both process to be hopefully covered. But my concern on the acid bath was it definitely etched the rock but it was no where near going to dissolve it completely at the rate it was happening. So hoping the acid removed enough rock to be effective.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

t it was no where near going to dissolve it completely at the rate it was happening. So hoping the acid removed enough rock to be effective.

That's the goal: just strip off a thin layer.

 

[prodman]

Here is how it’s looking