Coralline removal

Vinegar and time. I have a 90 in the same situation that I've been soaking for a couple of weeks. Now, I have not been able to fill it all the way up, just up to a little under the overflow level (so about 90% of the way full) but that has done very well. I think that I'll likely drain it this weekend and spray everything out. I used 1 gallon of vinegar to about 80 gallons of water. You can use a higher concentration than that, but I don't know how much is OK to use.

Now, I also found that the process started slow, but I put a K4 and a heater in the tank to keep it around 80 degrees and move the water around and that has helped to accelerate the process.

Hope this helps.

--AJ

 

Get some glacial acetic acid (100% acidity, no H2O) and mix it to 10-20%. Not this 5% acidity white vinegar crap they sell in the stores /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/tongue.gif You can probably pick it up in a photography shop since it's used in the developing process (like anyone does that anymore). I get mine from the chemical supply store here at UIowa.

Has anyone ever used CLR on these deposits. I have a feeling it'd be pretty toxic in a running reef, but for cleanups like this where you can rinse it off a million times it should work great.

 

Just lay the tank on its side and dump straight vineger one it then rotate it to the other sides when one is done. That way you you don't have to dilute it and can get by with a gallon or so. I clean my power heads in straight vineger and the coralline comes right off so it should work fine for your tank.

 

We filled our 100 gal tank wtih gallons of vinegar and the rest with water
We then let it soak overnight
A couple hours of cleaning the next day and it was done
Shaun

 

Yeah, most of the thin stuff just wiped off the next day, but there were some real stubborn spots that didn't want to go, they were really thick.  Eventually, they just flaked off the glass.  I guess me waiting as long as what I have is just more laziness than necessity...but I would say that if I was cleaning an acrylic tank, I would wait rather than scrub for fear of scratching stuff up.
--AJ

 

I'll see if I can get the vinegar water drained out of my tank tonight and take some "after" pics on what it looks like after the vinegar bath.

--AJ