Would lava rock be ok in a freshwater tank? Also, if I want to add a piece of driftwood (or some kind of wood), do I HAVE to buy it from my LFS, or can i use something found? How do you all prefer to clean up organic stuff like this?
Lava Rock? wood?
- Thread starter TheZoo
- Start date
Lava rock is fine and you can find your own wood, look for hardwood type woods that have been dead for a long time and are free of rotting wood.
In my experience as long as the wood is completely dried out it's fairly safe to give it a quick rinse and scrub then put straight into the tank.
However if you want to be extra careful you can sterilize the wood. For smaller peices you can clean them by boiling in a large pot, followed by scrubbing off any loose material. Larger peices can be treated by soaking them in a bucket of chlorinated water for an hour or so then scrubbing off loose material, they will need to be allowed to dry out for a week or so following this.
Depending on the size and type of the wood and how long it has been exposed to the elements it can potentially turn your water quite dark for several months as the tannins leach out. If this effect is undesirable you can let the wood age in a bucket of water, changing the water every few weeks until it stays reasonably clear (this can sometimes take 6 months or more, depending on the type of wood).
In my experience as long as the wood is completely dried out it's fairly safe to give it a quick rinse and scrub then put straight into the tank.
However if you want to be extra careful you can sterilize the wood. For smaller peices you can clean them by boiling in a large pot, followed by scrubbing off any loose material. Larger peices can be treated by soaking them in a bucket of chlorinated water for an hour or so then scrubbing off loose material, they will need to be allowed to dry out for a week or so following this.
Depending on the size and type of the wood and how long it has been exposed to the elements it can potentially turn your water quite dark for several months as the tannins leach out. If this effect is undesirable you can let the wood age in a bucket of water, changing the water every few weeks until it stays reasonably clear (this can sometimes take 6 months or more, depending on the type of wood).
It depends. I got my wood from the beach. It was safe, but it depends on the area. If its a soft wood, you might have trouble getting it to sink. Hard wood is best.
As far as lava rock, its safe as far as water goes. I have heard some people say that they have had fish get cuts from it.
As far as lava rock, its safe as far as water goes. I have heard some people say that they have had fish get cuts from it.
If that's a salt water beach, I'd be a bit cautious about dropping that in a freshwater tank. You'd really want to make sure the wood was soaked for a while to try and prevent a ton of stuff from leaching out of the wood.
Lava rock is perfectly safe in a freshwater tank. If you're concerned over the fish getting cut, you can always try to sand down some of the roughest edges before adding the rock to the tank. Just be sure to rinse the rock completely if you sand on it.
Joe
Lava rock is perfectly safe in a freshwater tank. If you're concerned over the fish getting cut, you can always try to sand down some of the roughest edges before adding the rock to the tank. Just be sure to rinse the rock completely if you sand on it.
Joe
Driftwood is safe as long as you boil it. If it is to large try pouring boiling water on top of it at least.