what vinegar is safe to use?

[fungia]

i would like to clean my powerheads and pumps with vinegar but there is so many kinds at the market. what kind do you buy?

 

[Mikef1]

I just use regular white vinegar on all my powerheads and anything else I clean.

 

[Anonymous]

Regular white vinegar here also.

 

[Anonymous]

Just don't get those fancy vinegar with nice, red color, etc.

 

[Anonymous]

El cheapo, no name brand, white vinegar.

 

[KevD1]

Pickling vinegar packs a bit more punch but tends to be more expensive. Standard white does the job.

 

[Eboman]

MURIATIC ACID IS THE BOMB!!!!!

I've been breaking down my two 55 gallon tanks and I've got so much crap on the skimmers/powerheads/return pumps/etc that I needed something with some gusto to get all of the calcium-based critters off.

Scrubbing with a scrubby-pad is just tearing up the pad.

I filled a 5-gallon bucket with water, put the pumps, etc in, dumped in some muriatic acid and it looked like an alka-seltzer bath. Bubbles...bubbles...bubbles...

It dissolved the heck out of the calcium.

Just beware!!!! Do this outside. The fumes are brutal. Also, you need to figure out what to do with the acid bath when you're done. If you dump it down the driveway, it WILL dissolve a layer of concrete (albeit a thin one) and cause some serious trouble in your sewer systems. Don't dump it down the drain in your house, since there's a chance it could damage your plumbing.

The best way to get rid of the acid is to neutralize it by mixing a bucket of water and baking soda (or lime...like the kind you put on your lawn) and adding the acid to the new bucket in batches and wait for it to quit fizzing.

Remember....always add the acid to the "other" stuff....not the other way around (I'm not 100% sure why......that's just what I've always been told and I'm still around to put up posts on reefs.org....so it must be good advice).

I've got some more stuff to clean this weekend, so I'll try and make a post of my own showing the before and after pictures.

Thanks,
Eboman

P.S. Otherwise, a regular jug of white vinegar works fine...not nearly as well as the acid....but it should do the trick. I usually get the 1-gallon sized jug and keep it around for cleaning skimmers and stuff.

 

[fishinsouthga]

adding water to acid can cause it to "explode" by introducing free hydrogen and make nasty spills jfyi

 

[turnburn]

I fill a 5 gallon bucket full of water and use a little bit of bleach. If deposits are really bad I just soak whatever it is I'm cleaning for a little while and it usually scrubs clean without too much trouble. After I'm done I make sure and rinse everything down real good.

I clean my skimmer the same way except I use a little dish soap instead of bleach. It breaks down proteins pretty easily. Same deal, rinse thoroughly before returning to service.

 

[KevD1]

This is getting into an entirely different area but the use of strong acids and bleach could be questionable from an environmental standpoint. I personally would suggest avoiding such materials when food safe and more than likely aquarium safe vinegar works just as well. Why take the chance of introducing harmful residues into your aquatic systems and in turn, during the disposal, the sewage treatment systems, etc.?

 

[Anonymous]

Bleach has very little effect on the hard, inorgainic mineral deposite on powerhead. Risky and waste of money.

 

[meshal001]

well,,, I have had my skimmer running for more than 7 years without cleanning the pump... I might get up and clean it with white vinigar right away... :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

When i changed my tank from FW to SW i cleaned the entire tank using white vinegar and it got everyhing off fine. The glass was spotless, i have never used bleach as you don't know if you have managed to rinse it all off.

 

[snapper1]

plain white vinegar