coraline encrusted powerheads

[dalefio]

Muratic acid will work fine but remember when diluting the acid with water to always add the acid to the water. The reaction caused when adding water to an acid can be dangerous.

 

[shallowreef]

Thanks for that dalefio, DonW, and Sherman!

What would you guys sugest to get the coraline off of the overflow though?
Does MA take coraline off easily or do you have to work at it?
I was going to lay the tank on its back andspray the water/acid solution onto the oveflow and then use a scrubbing brush to take it all off. Is this going to take me forever?
Are there any other ideas?

 

[NeuroDoc]

Don,

How does acetic acid nutralize muratic acid? Don't you mean baking soda to neutralize acid?

Muratic acid is fine to clean almost anything reef related. If you leave a drop or two in a power head it will not hurt anything. If you question the use of muratic acid you can always neutralize it with a tsp or two of vinigar.

Don

 

[Sherman]

Shallowreef, be very careful about spraying MA. The fumes are pretty rough on the nose/lungs. Lay the tank on its back, and just wet the whole thing with MA/water solution. Come back 15 minutes later, and you can probably rinse the coralline right off. When the MA hits the coralline, it fizzes pretty spectacularly, so avoid the fumes. It won't take a scrub brush. A simply damp cloth would get whatever the rinse misses. If it doesn't come off easily, it probably didn't get very good MA coverage, so just wet it again.

And again, rubber gloves and ventilation.

 

[shallowreef]

Well. Before i get ti the acid i'm gonna try my first method which was filling my tank with fresh water and adding to gallons of vinegar. Then i'm gonna throw in all my powerheads that have coraline on them and turn them all on. I'm gonna let that all sit over night and hopefully by the next morning everything will come right off. If that doesn't work than i am going to go the acid way but i think i am gonna try and stay away from that scene as long as i can.


Nick