"natural decor"

[Pipedreamer86]

Kind of a stupid question, but rather than purchasing rocks from a store that are overpriced, would it be safe to get rocks from the river by my house. It is my understanding just boiling them would be sufficient. Is this accurate. Also are there live plants you can place in a tank that would do ok in only gravel substrate, not a dirt or sand bed?

 

[tamtam]

I've used rocks from a local lake, as well as drift wood actually.

With the rocks I have always been told to do a simple test of pouring vinegar on them and if they bubble you can't use them. If they don't then you should be ok.

I wouldn't suggest boiling them. I've heard that if there are air pockets they can explode. I'm not really sure of the truth in this but I didn't want to test it. lol. I just gave them a good scrub, boiled some conditioned water and poured it over them. I repeat the process a few times between boiling and scrubbing. Keeping in mind that those puppies get hot.

 

[butterfly_koi]

I have just the article for you lol we had been getting allot of questions on this topic so I wrote an article about it. If you have any further questions don't be afraid to ask
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/introduction-adding-decor-aquarium/

 

[Pipedreamer86]

Great article! But now I'm a little paranoid! I don't know on from another Lol. I guess i'll just have to be careful. How do you clean a sand bed tank though, you obviously can't use the.syphon like you do in gravel. What do you do about.the bottom of the tank

 

[reefdiver]

You can use.the vaccum. I have to two tanks with sand and honestly i think its better

 

[tamtam]

Great article! But now I'm a little paranoid! I don't know on from another Lol. I guess i'll just have to be careful. How do you clean a sand bed tank though, you obviously can't use the.syphon like you do in gravel. What do you do about.the bottom of the tank

I suggest you check some videos on youtube because seeing it can really help over reading it. But you basically use a gravel vac or tube as a siphon. You just need a technique to be able to pick up the debris on top without sucking up the sand. Sand usually will need to be disturbed regularly to allow gases to release as well. There are several plants that grow well in gravel, a smaller gravel would work well too. I think petsmart sells one I've heard good things about.

Also there are plants that you don't need to bury that you can actually attach to driftwood or rocks which may be something you want to look into

 

[Pipedreamer86]

So I watched some recordings on YouTube and i understand how vaccuming works on sand. I am leaning towards a sandy bottom for my setup now. Is that the normal medium for all serious hobbyists? Who uses gravel? Anyone?

 

[M1k3y_gumi]

Well do you plan on having plants? If so what kind? Very fine sand can be hard to keep well maintained but gravel that is too coarse is not recommended. Gravel will be fine for basic plants and is a great natural look. For the rocks. Try pouring boiling water over the rocks rather than boiling the rock itself. Also, some people try pouring some vinigar on the rock and if there is no chemical reaction deem the rock safe to add.

 

[butterfly_koi]

So I watched some recordings on YouTube and i understand how vaccuming works on sand. I am leaning towards a sandy bottom for my setup now. Is that the normal medium for all serious hobbyists? Who uses gravel? Anyone?

I started with gravel but switched to sand and have never looked back, I recently switched from natural play sand to black diamond and so far love the look of black sand in the tank