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Cleaning your equipment
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ninja_brandon View Drop Down
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    Posted: October 26 2010 at 11:29am
I have been listening to a bunch of reefing podcasts and I hear some good information on cleaning your pumps, auto top offs, etc to keep them functioning correctly.

The methods they mentioned were 

1.Vinegar/water mixture
2.Sulfuric Acid/water mixture
3.Bleach/water mixture
4.Muriatic Acid/water mixture
5.Hand scrubbing it with normal water

Obviously we have all scrubbed our equipment, but im curious about the Sulfuric Acid/Muriatic Acid dipping.  From what I have listened to there is not much labor required with these cleaning methods since the acid kills everything organic.

Has anyone tried the acid methods before and is it safe?

What do people do to clean their equipment and keep it functioning correctly?
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tileman View Drop Down
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I have cleaned my skimmer with a mix of muriatic acid and water.  Filled it with an 85/15 % solution and let it run for a few hours.  Worked very well, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who has never been around , or used acid before.  It's very harmful/dangerous if not used correctly.  I use it cleaning off cement products off of tile, so I've been around it for about 30 years.
My skimmer is very large, but for all of my other equipment I just use white vinegar and let soak, then clean it off.  Works just as well.
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Aquatic Evolution View Drop Down
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Use a high acid Vinegar not diluted. Non toxic
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tileman View Drop Down
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Points: 5368 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tileman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 26 2010 at 1:37pm
Originally posted by Aquatica Aquatica wrote:

Use a high acid Vinegar not diluted. Non toxic

I agree!
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I hand scrub with water unless it's real nasty. Then I use a vinegar/water solution. 
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davser View Drop Down
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i hand scrub all my equipment with nothing but warm water
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There's also a new product I saw in a reefkeeping magazine and also noticed Aquatic Dreams carries it. Looks more geared towards smaller apps like power heads, smaller pumps, etc. I dig out the magazine and see what the name of it is.
"A fish tank is not a pet. It's a TV that you gotta feed." - John Caparulo
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Mark Peterson View Drop Down
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Originally posted by ninja_brandon ninja_brandon wrote:

...the acid kills everything organic.
What do people do to clean their equipment and keep it functioning correctly?
I'm a lazy reefer. I don't clean it until it needs it.Embarrassed
The main purpose, as I see it, is not necessarily to kill the organic matter, but rather to dissolve the hard calcium deposits and worm tubes. White Vinegar does that quite well.
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