Best way to clean air stones.

[Russ]

Hi,
This may be a stupid question but what is the best way to clean airstones, after a while mine produce significantly less bubbles and when I clean them with a toothbrush under running water it dosen't do much, and some even fall apart. If the best solution is to get new ones whats a good brand that won't fall apart and cleans easily.

[GulfCoastDiscus]

Soak it in vinegar.

I use acid for about 30 sec. or till it stop fizzing. Be careful with acid.

dan

[Howie_W]

Boiling hot water will kill most things, as will an extremely diluted bleach dip.

You don't want to physically scrub airstones as they will easily break apart.



Howie

[RyanH]

Depending on how valuable your time is, I would almost just recommend going out and buying new ones instead of messing with cleaning them. They're cheap! :)

[susankay1]

I got some of the plastic ones that Mike Heppner sells. They just unscrew apart in sections, very easy to clean and put out tons of bubbles, as you can see. I have them in almost all of my sponge filters.

[brewmaster15]

Soaking them in a cup of hydrogen peroxide is a safe and easy way to clean them. When I notice the back pressure increasing I just swap out a clean one for a dirty. Usually 24 hours of soaking is alls you need.

I think I have seen muriatic acid reccommended by some of the higher end air stones makers.


hth,
al