Tainted rocks?

[n3wt]

I recently got some rocks from a friend of mine who works at a Marine center and he said that they were giving him problems because he got them from a guy who got them from his yard and had fertilizer on them so they were giving him phosphate trouble. I have had them for a few days and I have soaked them in about a 5-10% bleach mixture for a full day and than I took them out and scrubbed them good and than I put them in tap water for another day. After that I took them out and cleaned them off again and soaked them in treated tap water for another day. I would think they are cleaned fairly well but they still smell kinda funky, I don't know if it is just the way the rocks smell or if they still have stuff on them.
Would it be safe to try out the rocks and monitor the levels carefully or should I try to soak them some more? Right now they have been soaking for about 3 and a half days.

 

[mfdrookie516]

i would be worried about pesticides on them... if they were in a yard and exposed to fertilizer, chances are good that they were exposed to pesticides too... its just not worth taking the chance imo...

 

[sieski]

i would be worried about pesticides on them... if they were in a yard and exposed to fertilizer, chances are good that they were exposed to pesticides too... its just not worth taking the chance imo...

Nut I think they have already been in the tank unwashed or not as well washed and caused just Phosphate troubles. Pesticide problems aren't an issue I think. Am I right n3wt?

 

[n3wt]

They haven't been in my tank but my friend tried it in one of the display tanks at the science center where we work that's when he noticed the phosphate levels riseing. If he would of expected pestacides on them I'm sure they would of been thrown out right away no way he would risk killing all the fish in one of the big display tanks. I was just wondering if soaking them in bleach/treated water water for a few days would be good enough to kill off any leftover gunk that might be on them. I've never had to deal with adding rocks or anything that needed to be treated. Everything I ever got was already in tanks so it was already safe to put in.

 

[Blueiz]

I don't think pesticides would be a concern at this point. Instead of using your tank as a guinea pig, I would get a phosphate test kit, put them in a bucket of water, get a base line reading of the water before adding rocks, let them soak for a week or two, then test the phosphate level again.

I personally don't think the rock is going to give a phosphate problem. Do you know what kind of rocks they are?

 

[n3wt]

I'm not sure. They were used in saltwater, they have some coral on them. The rock isn't all coral because I broke one of the bigger pieces in smaller ones and it just looked like rock. I'm gonna guess some type of oceanic rock.

 

[Fromthelbc]

I'm not sure. They were used in saltwater, they have some coral on them. The rock isn't all coral because I broke one of the bigger pieces in smaller ones and it just looked like rock. I'm gonna guess some type of oceanic rock.

:-| ALL rocks come from the ocean.

 

[n3wt]

Lol, ya. I should of been more specific. The rocks look like they would be used in a saltwater tank rather than some type of river rock. Kinda looks like texas holey rock but without so many holes and it has some bits of dead coral in it. Hopefully that is a bit more discriptive.

 

[Blueiz]

Have you got a picture of it? Could it possibly be homemade rock?

 

[jsoong]

Dead coral will raise your KH & pH as it dissolve ... might not be a problem if your water is hard, but might mess with acidic/soft water.

Also, unless the coral is really dead & all organics are gone, it will decompose and may give you ammonia problems as well. <Bleaching will kill the coral, but I am not sure how long it take for the guts of the coral to break down & leave the "shell".> The funky smell might be decomposing coral or other stuff stuck in the rock.

Personally, I would soak it for a week or two, and check that it does not alter pH, KH, PO4, NH3, NO3 before using it in the tank.

<Some rocks are rich in phosphate & will leech phosphate in water ... that is prob the reason for your friend's PO4 problem, rather than the rocks being exposed to fertilizers (surface ferts should wash off). Read this for info:
Mineral Information Institute - PHOSPHATE ROCK
& google "phosphorites" for some pic of what that looks like.>

 

[Blueiz]

Dead coral will raise your KH & pH as it dissolve ... might not be a problem if your water is hard, but might mess with acidic/soft water.

Also, unless the coral is really dead & all organics are gone, it will decompose and may give you ammonia problems as well. <Bleaching will kill the coral, but I am not sure how long it take for the guts of the coral to break down & leave the "shell".> The funky smell might be decomposing coral or other stuff stuck in the rock.

Personally, I would soak it for a week or two, and check that it does not alter pH, KH, PO4, NH3, NO3 before using it in the tank.

<Some rocks are rich in phosphate & will leech phosphate in water ... that is prob the reason for your friend's PO4 problem, rather than the rocks being exposed to fertilizers (surface ferts should wash off). Read this for info:
Mineral Information Institute - PHOSPHATE ROCK
& google "phosphorites" for some pic of what that looks like.>

Very informative information! Thanks for posting it.

 

[n3wt]

Thanks for all the info, I got a phosphate test kit and I checked the water the rocks were in and it is a bit high but not too bad. The water hardness and ph is not a problem for me because I have calvuses and some other tanganykans. But I'm gonna go with soaking the rocks for a week or so and see how it goes after that, no reason to rush and kill all my fish. Thanks for all the input.