Cali Kid Corals

Serious Cleaning

LeviT

LeviT

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Alright, I managed to acquire 2 CPR CS90 overflows and a Red Sea Berlin skimmer that I plan on using to add a sump to my 46g bow front. I'll get into the design details on another thread but right now I need some help getting these puppy's clean.

I've read that it's best to use a warm 10%-20% solution of white vinegar. Does that mean I should just use hot tap water or boiled water or should I heat the solution? I'm guessing I could get away with any of the above as long as I don't get the water/solution too hot for the plastic but I want to know hear from folks on what works best because they are really caked with deposits. Can the solution be too strong? or is anything over 20% just a waste?

I've also read about using Muriatic Acid (from the pool section of any Home Depot or OSH) in a 20% solution but I don't know how risky that could be so any input would be great.

I've also read to use baking soda with water for areas that need to be scrubbed. Sounds harmless enough but is it?

This sounds like a simple question but man these are dirty and I'd rather work smart so thanks for any input.
 
I never heat my solution. I just use plain old distilled white vinegar (usually get it from Costco) mix it up about 1-1 in a 5 gallon container at room tempeture. I take everything apart brush them off lightly and let the parts sit overnight in the solution. By morning they are squeaky clean. I do one last scrub with pipe cleaners and a toothbrush and put em back together.
 
White vinegar can be used to clean the calcium/mineral deposits from equipment (I regularly use a vinegar solution to clean out my pumps).

I use warm water and plain ole white vinegar from Costco. I can't tell you the dilution ratio mainly because I play it by ear(depending on the deposits). It's something like eight to ten parts water to one part vinegar.

You can use muriatic acid but it's way too caustic for my tastes. You have to add it in a certain way or you can get noxious vapors. You have to wear gloves because it is a very strong acid.

I soak all equipment for at least six to eight hours overnight if necessary for heavy coralline deposits.
 
So it sounds like anywhere from 10% to 100% overnight does the trick. I'm not in a hurry so I'll start with 10% solution overnight and see how it goes and I'll stay away from the muriatic acid for now.

Any other input?
 
Use paper town instead filling up the whole tank. Get some cheap vinegar from Costco and mix it with water (50-50 if you can't wait long :) ). Soak the paper town and put it on top of the area needs to be clean. Save water and don't have to use too much vinegar ;D . I didn't that when I cleaned my 100G tank.

Edit
I reread your post and seeing that you try to clean the skimmer not the sump :D. Anyway I usually mix 50-50 and soak overnight. Work well that way
 
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