wat kind of rocks i can put into my tank that wont mess up the water or leech stuff into the water?
rocks?
- Thread starter Grandmastr
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I just went through this recently.... and posted the question to the UniQuaria group.
Turns out you are safe as long as the rocks are ph neutral. I went to our local stone yard and bought a bunch of rock for very cheap. I knew it was ph nuetral because I have used about 2 tons of it in out 1,800 gallon pond. Brought it home, scrubbed it up and placed it in the tank. All has been great.
Just make sure there is no iron or other minerals in it.... Look for the stuff they make the natural looking stone walls out of.
Turns out you are safe as long as the rocks are ph neutral. I went to our local stone yard and bought a bunch of rock for very cheap. I knew it was ph nuetral because I have used about 2 tons of it in out 1,800 gallon pond. Brought it home, scrubbed it up and placed it in the tank. All has been great.
Just make sure there is no iron or other minerals in it.... Look for the stuff they make the natural looking stone walls out of.
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someone else can verify/elaborate, but i believe the way to test if a rock won't leech ph-altering badness into the water involves dripping vinegar onto it. if the vinegar "sizzles" or "bubbles" or something, then it will be a bad mutha to your tank. if it doesn't, you're most likely gold. verification, please?
Yep... dethjam is right. You can do a vineger test. If there is a fizzing, then the rock will change your tank water chemistry. If not, then you're good to go.
If the test turns out fine, soak the rock overnight in a bleach & water mixture. Then wash in water & scrub well.
If the test turns out fine, soak the rock overnight in a bleach & water mixture. Then wash in water & scrub well.
I got all my rocks from the local river, where they were worn by water already and had a very natural look to them. I kept away from conglomerate- which is a coarse mixture of different kinds of rock solidified into one. Keep away from limestone, (which alters ph). Sandstone should be okay, and shale as well, and the vinegar test works well. The trouble with sedimentary rocks is they tend to break apart easily- which could be bad in an aquarium. I think granite is a good safe choice for rocks, but I personally don't like the look of it in an aquarium, unless it is very worn already. Also stay away from rocks with veins in them, the veins most likely could be minerals that could leach into the water. Just because it doesn't change the ph doesn't mean it couldn't be harmful- right?
Just stick to solid colored rocks that don't have any other colors to them, like rusty splotches. Colors come out more when the rocks are wet so make sure you examine them when they are wet to see any color variations that look a bit 'suspicous'.
Better to be safe then sorry!
Once you have the rocks you could soak them in bleach then scrub them really well, or just boil them in a big pot of water. Even 5 minutes in boiling water is enough to kill off any bacteria on the rocks.
Just stick to solid colored rocks that don't have any other colors to them, like rusty splotches. Colors come out more when the rocks are wet so make sure you examine them when they are wet to see any color variations that look a bit 'suspicous'.
Better to be safe then sorry!
Once you have the rocks you could soak them in bleach then scrub them really well, or just boil them in a big pot of water. Even 5 minutes in boiling water is enough to kill off any bacteria on the rocks.
You might want to refer to this post from aquabotanic. There are several ways to test if a rock is appropriate for aquatic use.
http://aquabotanicwetthumb.infopop....06023812&m=8036030724&r=1426052874#1426052874
Or here's another reliable site:
http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/aquascaping/rocks.shtml
Hope this helps.
http://aquabotanicwetthumb.infopop....06023812&m=8036030724&r=1426052874#1426052874
Or here's another reliable site:
http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/aquascaping/rocks.shtml
Hope this helps.
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Marble is safe to use but I am pretty sure that it will harden your water and cause your pH to rise.
marble
Here is what wetmanNY writes at his website www.skepticalaquarist.com
"What about marble? There will also be lots of marble and marble chips at the landscaping outlet. Marbles are "metamorphosed" limestones, "remade" so to speak, deep in the earth under heat and pressure. Marble will also raise the pH, but it reacts with the acids in water more slowly than limestone. As a general rule, the minerals in metamorphic rocks are more tightly bonded and aren't going to leach into the water. Marble can be any color; my problem with white marble, I guess, is its whiteness. At first it looks artificial and then it looks dirty, tempting you to scrub it."
take care,
Jared
Here is what wetmanNY writes at his website www.skepticalaquarist.com
"What about marble? There will also be lots of marble and marble chips at the landscaping outlet. Marbles are "metamorphosed" limestones, "remade" so to speak, deep in the earth under heat and pressure. Marble will also raise the pH, but it reacts with the acids in water more slowly than limestone. As a general rule, the minerals in metamorphic rocks are more tightly bonded and aren't going to leach into the water. Marble can be any color; my problem with white marble, I guess, is its whiteness. At first it looks artificial and then it looks dirty, tempting you to scrub it."
take care,
Jared
Stay away from sandstone. I bought some from a petstore that said it was for aquaria, and after about a week in the tank, it started to erode. It actually looked like somebody was taking small bites out of it, similar to that when you put a slice of cucumber in the tank. It didn't seem to alter my water chemistry any, but after a short while, it didn't look that good either. That has now been rectified, took out the rock, added the driftwood.