Rock Question & Intro

amsherwood

amsherwood

AC Members
Jan 13, 2009
41
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0
Flemington NJ
Hello everyone -- my first post (although I've been a lurker for a a couple of months now...)

I have some small rocks that I got from a friend. I think he got them from a craft store. Will they be safe for my FW tank?

I just need a small one for a java fern to attach to. I currently have 3 other plants in there -- an amazon sword and two other mystery plants that came with two small pieces of driftwood that I purchased. I find that the tetras (actually the cory cats as well) love hanging out by the plants so I'm trying to give them a few more. I just have the regular gravel so plants on wood and rocks work well.

Everyone (plants and fishies) seem happy -- it's our very first tank. We got the 10g kit from Petco as a 4th birthday present for my son. Of course it's my hobby now but he gets naming rights to all the fishies. :)

Tank is just newly cycled as of 3 weeks ago. Ammonia - 0, Nitrites - 0 and Nitrates - around 5. We have not lost any fishies even doing a fishy cycle (have I mentioned I'm a newbie?). We cycled with a zebra danio, Marty (who has since been returned - too playful and cramped in the 10g) and Splash, a cardinal tetra (I now know that was not a good idea). Splash is doing well and since we fell in love with him, we decided to get him some buddies to keep him company.

Any info on the rock would be appreciated!!

Arleen
 
Hi and welcome!

It depends on the rock. I would wash it really well in hot water and then drip some vinegar on them. If they bubble don't use them. You can also fill up a bucket with water, test the pH, add the rocks, wait a week, then test the pH again. Some rocks will change the water chemistry and this will help you know if those rocks will do that. Depending on your set up, you want to avoid rocks that mess with the pH.
 
Since the vinegar is acidic, if the rock is soft and likely to break down, the vinegar will begin to do just that, and the result is bubbles. I think the rock we are trying to avoid is limestone which is a softer rock.
 
It's not that it's soft; many rocks are safe and are softer than limestone. The problem is it's soluble.
 
Karl -- and the vinegar test is the test that will tell me whether it's soluble or not?

Petluvr -- yup, those are them, smooth stones. I'll try the vinegar test anyway and hope for no bubbles.
 
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