i made a real bonehead move

[chris&barb]

i decided to clean my skimmer pumps this evening. so i take the pumps apart and put the impellers in a bucket put about 1/2 gal of water in it, go out side(30f outside) and pour a little muriatic acid in.

now just a month or so ago i modded my needle wheels to mesh wheels and they have been working great. they turned my $700 skimmer into a $2000 skimmer, no joke. any way 10 min later i go back out to empty the bucket and there's all this back stuff in there. either i added too much muriatic acid or added it too fast and it boiled the water, but the mesh melted and the magnets are either damaged or coated with the nylon from the mesh. i ordered new impellers but who knows how long that will take. i guess for the next week i'll be experimenting with a skimmerless tank

 

[mmkeeper]

Sorry for your boo boo. Sounds like lots of water changes to me.

 

[class clown]

not that I want to repeat the mistake, but where would you go about purchasing some muriatic acid? can you get it online?

 

[chris&barb]

not that I want to repeat the mistake, but where would you go about purchasing some muriatic acid? can you get it online?

its great stuff it will clean anything

you can get it at HD or Lowes in the paint department. it realy should be diluted to 10 to 1 with water (10parts water) and you should wear gloves. and you definitly shouldnt pour it in "willie nillie" because its cold outside:lol:

 

[class clown]

Cool - didn't know it was that available. I'll check it out. Do you have to be worried much about adding it back into the tank once you've cleaned stuff? is it really toxic to the point you shoudl do it outside or is in a sink ok? have to wear gloves? eye glasses? etc.

 

[chris&barb]

it hydrochloric acid, diluted to about 34%. so yes you want to do it out side, with gloves and glasses, and dont breath it in or mix it with any other chemicals. a good rinse in tap water will get ride of it so there really isnt any worry about getting it in the tank.

also NEVER ADD THE WATER TO ACID, ALWAYS ACID TO WATER.

 

[mmkeeper]

Anywhere you buy pools supply stuff they have it. If you use it inside the fumes will rust anything metal.

 

[scytale]

not that I want to repeat the mistake, but where would you go about purchasing some muriatic acid? can you get it online?

HD in Woodinville (only) sells it in a "2-pack"--2 one gallon jugs.

If you're ever on the eastside, I've got a whole unopened jug that you can have....I doubt I'll ever use 2 whole gallons!

(properly diluted) It works great on just about everything
(except the cloudy/water stains on my 55 gallon "project" tank that I bought it for in the first place....)

But like everyone else said--it's nasty stuff straight out of the jug!
Wear thick gloves, use outdoors, wear a mask--if you take a strong sniff it'll clean out your nose--right down to your lungs!!!

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Wear thick gloves, use outdoors, wear a mask--if you take a strong sniff it'll clean out your nose--right down to your lungs!!!

It will wreck your eyes if any gets in them and the HCL fumes will turn into hydrochloric acid inside of what used to be your lungs if you inhale any . This is not a nifty cleaner, it is a very volatile and dangerous solvent to be respected and feared. Simple vinegar (acetic acid) will safely do most of what HCL will do, it just takes longer. Sorry for the sermon

 

[Slickdonkey]

Dude, always use this stuff outside. It gives off nasty nasty fumes. Wear a respirator if you have one.

 

[morgan]

work with hydrochloric acid every day to clean bricks ive added it eaither way to water its pretty potent stuff and getting it in ur eyes burns like sh!t i would wear gloves and glasses i cant imagine why u would put ur implerres in there as it would rust them surely, pool acid is 26% by the way

 

[burning2nd]

LOl, we all pull noob moves from time to time,

 

[DonW]

its great stuff it will clean anything

you can get it at HD or Lowes in the paint department. it realy should be diluted to 10 to 1 with water (10parts water) and you should wear gloves. and you definitly shouldnt pour it in "willie nillie" because its cold outside:lol:

I totally agree, its good stuff. 10 to 1 is a bit much for cleaning pumps. 1/2 cup in about 3 gallons of water is enough to clean pumps and heaters.

Don

 

[davidabrown66]

Damn, that sucks. How much time energy/money did it take to mod?

I know this might be a little off topic, but what kind of skimmer/pump are you using to mod?

 

[chris&barb]

Damn, that sucks. How much time energy/money did it take to mod?

I know this might be a little off topic, but what kind of skimmer/pump are you using to mod?

it only takes 10min per impeller, and $5 total. the skimmer is a ASM G6, pumps are Sedra 9000

 

[chris&barb]

heres the mod thread http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=966407&perpage=25&pagenumber=1

just make sure you read the whole thing because it evolved a lot and the materials they are using now are not what they started out with

 

[class clown]

hmm.. resperator, big thick gloves, only use outside.. knowing my history of dropping things, breaking things accidentially, leaving my RODI unit on all night, etc.. maybe I'll stick with vinegar.. vinegar never seems to get my stuff as clean as I want it but then again, don't have to worry about going to the hospital either.

 

[DonW]

hmm.. resperator, big thick gloves, only use outside.. knowing my history of dropping things, breaking things accidentially, leaving my RODI unit on all night, etc.. maybe I'll stick with vinegar.. vinegar never seems to get my stuff as clean as I want it but then again, don't have to worry about going to the hospital either.

:lol: :lol: Its not all that bad. Thats why they only sell the diluted stuff. I use it to clean everthing in my sump in my living room. I fill the sump with tap water throw in two cups of Muratic and let the skimmer run for a hour and everything is shiny new.

Don

 

[Slickdonkey]

Does anyone know if muriatic acid is safe to use for cleaning an empty glass tank? Mainly I'm worried about the silicone.

 

[scytale]

Does anyone know if muriatic acid is safe to use for cleaning an empty glass tank? Mainly I'm worried about the silicone.

Yes, IME.

I originally bought muriatic acid to clear hazy buildup off of a 55 project tank--and it didn't damage the silicone--no visible change to the seams and the tank has been filled many times since then w/o issue.

(Of course the acid didn't take the haze off either!--neither did vinegar, Kaboom, and everything else I tried! )

I've still got an unopened 1 gallon jug of muriatic sitting in my garage next to that 55 gallon tank.....you can have it if you want it.
(the acid, NOT the tank )