Vinegar in my running 180?

[EuroDriver]

I'm doing a tank reset due to a myriad of issues that has killed my livestock: gha, cyano, diatoms, apatasia outbreak, etc. I believe the black hawaiian sand is mostly to blame but anyhow...

I want to sterilize everything,then replace sand, rock, macro, everything.

Would it be a good idea to pour a gallon or two of vinegar into the tank and let it run for a couple of days before draining it? Idea is to kill everything in the overflows, pumps and sump before starting over. Or is this a bad idea?

[Leightonandrade]

Vinegar isn’t going to do much. I used bleach to reset my system (aiptasia). Tank only had sand in it. Threw out the sand once I drained it. Didn’t reuse the sand and I had a fan in the tank to dry it out once I drained it so the bleach would evaporate then filled the tank and let it run for an hour then drained it and refilled it with RO water then added salt. I used 2 gallons of bleach for 80 gallons of system volume. 1 gallon of bleach per 50 gallons of tank volume is adequate.


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[PatientZero]

Vinegar is going to stink too, in case you’re cleaning in place. Bleach and lots of rinsing might be better as stated, or citric acid if you’re trying to dissolve coralline or tube worms. Or just RO water and a sharp razor blade and skip all that.

[EuroDriver]

My thoughts are that besides killing the apatasia and nuisance algae, I can take advantage and dissolve the calcium buildup in the pumps and plumbing before emptying the tank

[Leightonandrade]

My thoughts are that besides killing the apatasia and nuisance algae, I can take advantage and dissolve the calcium buildup in the pumps and plumbing before emptying the tank

You would have to use 100% vinegar in the tank to really make anything happen. You’ll need an actual acid to dissolve the calcium. Vinegar works but you’ll be there for a while and you’ll have to be scrubbing. I would also use extreme cautious if you do end up running acid in your system. (Really good ventilation)


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[apt220]

Muriatic acid would be better to achieve what you want. Just be careful. It's concentrated hydrochloric acid. Wear eye protection and glvoes; and always add acid to water, not the other way around. Use at your own risk. I use this stuff to clean my pumps and to clean rock. It works relatively fast because it's strong.

There will still likely be some film that you need to brush away. It's not going to make it sparkling clean, but it will dissolve the calcium in the pipes.

It's found in the paint section at walmart or HD.

[Sicklid]

Muriatic acid would be better to achieve what you want. Just be careful. It's concentrated hydrochloric acid. Wear eye protection and glvoes; and always add acid to water, not the other way around. Use at your own risk. I use this stuff to clean my pumps and to clean rock. It works relatively fast because it's strong.

There will still likely be some film that you need to brush away. It's not going to make it sparkling clean, but it will dissolve the calcium in the pipes.

It's found in the paint section at walmart or HD.

Careful with fumes as well, super dangerous.


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[Leightonandrade]

Muriatic acid is also used for pools. Can be bought in a box of two 1 gallon jugs. That stuff is very bad so use EXTREME CAUTION.


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[Leightonandrade]

And use baking soda to neutralize it.


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