rocks for an aquarium and other questions

I don't know about the rocks, but for plants my favorites are anubias, amazon sword, crypt wendtii, and crypt lucens. Those are all low light and easy to take care of. I trim every now an then, but that's about it.
 
well that was what the rocks were labeled as at the garden store.

soak it in bleach ? wouldnt that be bad for the tank ?

java moss back wall also sounds interesting any hints on how to get one of these started, this will be my first planted tank so kinda goin from scratch here
 
I have a large pot for aquarium use only. I boil all rocks that I have taken from the yard. They are mostly granite. Bring to a boil, boil for a good long time, then let the pot stand to come to room temperature which will take awhile so don't rush it.

Here's a good article on which stones to use an how to treat them.

http://theaquariumwiki.com/Rocks
 
hmmmmm interesting i was told to never boil rocks for prolonged periods of time because they will blow up in your face. May give it a go morrow anyway dont want to risk nasties getting into the tank.
 
Ughhh talk about frustrating. I am new to fish also (Other then 1 goldfish) and I have african cichlids and I never knew until this thread about the rock test. I put in rocks yesterday which now I realize aren't going to work (At least some of them).

Glad to see this thread, but I got into fish to have less stress not more. I seem to be making mistakes left and right right now.
 
im with you roody but it will all be worth it in the long run ! (wont it ?)

seeming as i already have a thread might as well add a few more questions for when the tank is set up. ive been contemplating on what to put in this tank, and after a trip to the LFS and much discussing with my G/F we decided a set up something like this.

AquStockImage.php


what do you think ? nothing is set in stone atm but these are the main fish were interested in so any advice on these guys would be nice.
 
im with you roody but it will all be worth it in the long run ! (wont it ?)

seeming as i already have a thread might as well add a few more questions for when the tank is set up. ive been contemplating on what to put in this tank, and after a trip to the LFS and much discussing with my G/F we decided a set up something like this.

AquStockImage.php


what do you think ? nothing is set in stone atm but these are the main fish were interested in so any advice on these guys would be nice.

Good luck with it all. The members here have been very helpful to me and in particular blue2frye has gone out of his way to help me.
 
Good luck with it all. The members here have been very helpful to me and in particular blue2frye has gone out of his way to help me.
Oh stop I'm blushing :o


Honestly I don't worry too much about rocks. I have granite in my tank without problems. If you get a rock that fizzies with the vinegar test it just means it will raise your Ph. This is fine and desirable if you have african cichlids.

Some rocks to avoid are, anything that have a rusty streak in it. This means it has iron which can leach into your tank. Generally you want to stay away from Limestone(can raise Ph), dead coral(also can raise Ph), Amethyst, sandstone, fool's gold, marble and anything containing metal. Most rocks you come accross in the yard should be fine.

seeming as i already have a thread might as well add a few more questions for when the tank is set up. ive been contemplating on what to put in this tank, and after a trip to the LFS and much discussing with my G/F we decided a set up something like this.

Looks pretty good. I'm not sure if it's avisiable to mix ram species. I would decide on either the blue rams or the bolivian rams. I would cut back the pleco numbers to 2 for a tank that size. They are very good algae eaters and I think you would be fine with only 2. I would also bump up the number of loaches, they like groups of at least 4-5.
 
ok did a vingar test and no fizz so gonna give them a boil and good scrub then start with some smaller ones in the tank. if they will raise ph how fast will the change be ? should i test ph once a day? more? less?

ps thanks for all the help so far
 
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