rock

[AgilityIG]

Today I found some rainbow slate at my LFS. I asked them about cleaning it and they said that it had already been cleaned and that I should just rinse it in tap water to get rid of the dust. I let it soak in a couple buckets for an hour and then took it out and rinsed it with more water. They look clean, but when they are wet they have a bit of an odor (they didn't smell when dry). Is there anything else I need to do to them before introducing them to my tank?

 

[Lowryder]

Smelled like mud? Thats normal for slate. What I do to clean slate is use a soft brass brush and pour boiling water overtop, do not boil the rock!

 

[AgilityIG]

Yes! That's what I was smelling. I was trying to figure out what the odor was - it was not bad, but just could not place the smell. Thanks!

 

[mfdrookie516]

you should probably soak it for a week or two... i dont know 100% about rainbow slate, but regular old slate will cause an oil like film on top of the water for a couple weeks if you dont soak it first... i soaked my rainbow slate with the rest of my slate and the bucket looked like i'd poured a gallon of vegetable oil in there with it

 

[AgilityIG]

I'll throw it all in a five gallon bucket and let it soak. It did "hiss" a bit when I soaked it earlier (air pockets, I assume?). Should I keep changing the water while it soaks over the next couple weeks or just leave it alone?

 

[mfdrookie516]

I would change out the water every couple days... put a powerhead in there if you have one, that'll keep the water from getting a film on top and turning stagnant

 

[AgilityIG]

I don't have a powerhead, but it will be easy enough to just change the water. There is only about 20 pounds of rock (although now I want MORE!) so it should be no problem.