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Re: Muriatic Acid

Hello Rick,

Muriatic acid = hydrochloric acid, HCl. The hardware store acid is
concentrated, so EXTREME care should be used in handling it! Have a box
of baking soda handy when you handle it, to IMMEDIATELY neutralize any
possible spills!!! DON'T inhale the vapor -- it can blister your
lungs!!!!

Never add the acid to the aquarium, but neutralize water -- reduce pH
--in a plastic or glass container before adding it to the aquarium. Add
acid to water & stir. NEVER add water to the acid!!!!

Aside from the precautions you have to take handling a strong
concentrated acid, the neutralization proceeds as with any other strong
acid. The only possible disadvantage -- because it is a concentrated
acid -- is that it is easy to lower pH too much.

As to buffers -- lower the pH to, say, 6.6 and then add the pH 6.5
buffer. That way you save on the buffer. If the buffer contains
phosphate, it mught create good conditions for algae to grow!

Be careful with the acid!

Best,

George


Richard & Carol Dippold wrote:
> 
>     I have seen muriatic acid used to lower pH of water.
> Sold in LFS it was a lot more expensive than the muriatic acid in
> the hardware store. If I get the hardware store brand do I have to do
> anything to it before use? What are the disadvantage of using it over
> other pH lowering chemicals?
> 
>   Jungle makes a pH stabilizer or buffer to maintain the pH at 6.5.
> If you water has a high pH (7.9) with a lot of buffers in it dose adding
> more buffers from this product help keep the pH down? If it dose than
> are the buffers for high pH and low pH must different ???
> 
> Thanks in advance
> 
> Rick
> 
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