Rocks in an aquarium...

Tommy Gun

Tommy Gun

Fish Fanatic
Aug 1, 2006
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Wisconsin, USA
Hey everyone! I am working on creating a system of caves and what not for my fish and figured out that the rocks I can buy at the LFS aren't really the best bet. So, I collected a bunch from around the house and now I just need to make sure that they are ok for the tank and wont hurt the fish.

They are all relatively clean, I didnt have to dig em up or anything. If I was to boil them, would that help ensure that they wont pollute the water? Should I take any other steps to clean them? And is there anything else I havent thought about before I start in on this project? Since none of the rocks are 'soft' like limestone would be, will they affect my water parameters much?

Thanks in advance!
 
i know it sounds retarded but pour vinigier or however you spell it over the rocks if the viniger bubbles there is to much of some sort of mineral bleeding out of the rock and it could raise the hardness of the water to an unsafe level for your fish.... someone else might know more but thats just to help out
 
You should be fine, boiling is good, scrubbing with a new or fishonly, non-soapy brush is good, the vinegar tip works well.

:mad:
almsk8s4life said:
i know it sounds retarded...
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This is offensive. There are lots of other words you can use to get your point across.
 
i would just scrub it good without soap,try the vinigar,its worth a try.hope it works for you. ;)
 
I believe the second reagent in the ammonia test kit is a stonger acid to test with.
 
Just a quick question: Why are the rocks at your LFS no good? Don't most of them sell a variety of rock types? Mine has chunks of glass, petrified wood, quartz, lava rocks, shale, limestone and a few others. I think everything but the limestone is fine for your water. What types of rocks does your LFS carry? And, yes, boiling and scrubbing will work well for you. Use the vinegar or ammonia kit reagent test to check for calcium carbonate in the rocks. If the acid bubbles on the rocks don't use them.
 
I just do not like the rocks they have at the LFS here. For example, some are 'painted' or have swirls in them and the slate they have wouldnt give me the effect I want. I am trying to build some caves of all sorts and sizes for cichlids.

The closest LFS to me is much more of a 'pet' store and there is only a small corner with the fish supplies. You are probrably right, I could go further away to get exactly what I want and be sure that it is ok for the tank. My thinking is that I can go into my back yard and down by the lake to get rocks for free and save myself a lot of gas, time and money over the long run. That is if I can make sure they are clean.

I have boiled the rocks and I am soaking them overnight in a bunch of pails. I did a water test on my tap water and I will do the same in the morning to see if the rocks are changing the chemistry. Everything I have right now is 'hard' rock and I am sure that it isnt limestone or anything like that. (I used to landscape so I know a little about indentifying rocks) I will try the vinegar and ammonia test before I do anything though.
 
i set up a tank with shale i pulled from the shore of a lake.however after a lot of scrubbing and boiling it all for 30 minutes i scapped the whole project because there still was too much algae.i could not see the algae but could sure smell it.
 
yourchoice said:
i set up a tank with shale i pulled from the shore of a lake.however after a lot of scrubbing and boiling it all for 30 minutes i scapped the whole project because there still was too much algae.i could not see the algae but could sure smell it.
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You could also try a very dilute bleach solution. I mean, VERY dilute. Like a capfull per gallon or two. Then, grab a metal bristle brush, like that for scrubbing pots and pans, and scrub like crazy. Next, rinse like crazy in plenty of fresh water and let the rocks sit in a bucket with water and lots of dechlorinator. That should work fine, if you ever wanted to try something like that again.
 
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