Rocks

[Bovbov]

My neighbour just got some purple slate looking rocke that I think will look good in my aquarium! Does anyone know how to make it fish friendly???

 

[EndlersEatGuppies]

My neighbour just got some purple slate looking rocke that I think will look good in my aquarium! Does anyone know how to make it fish friendly???

I heard u need to boil it but if there is gas pockets in the rock it can EXPLODE!!! an u will need to

 

[Sssea]

Boiling depends on the rock. If you leave the rock in the water to cool after boiling so that there are no major temp changes, there is less chance they will explode. Also use vinegar to test if it will raise your ph, if it fizzes, don't use it.

Pretty sure I'm right, hopefully someone will agree

 

[Mr. Limpet]

My neighbour just got some purple slate looking rocke that I think will look good in my aquarium! Does anyone know how to make it fish friendly???

I put slate into my tank and didn't boil it only because it was too big lol. I'd suggest testing it with white vinegar to see if it might raise your pH (this isn't a sure fire test BTW). Slate is hard and a good scrubbing with a 10% (max) bleach solution and then rinse, soak, rinse, soak for a week or so in clean water and it should be OK. That's the way I did mine and the fry in my daughter's 20g tank love it .

 

[Bovbov]

I gave it a good scrub a dub dub a quic boil for 10 mins and cooked in oven for another 10m, I used Malt vinegar to test and no reaction. Will malt be ok??

 

[Mr. Limpet]

I gave it a good scrub a dub dub a quic boil for 10 mins and cooked in oven for another 10m, I used Malt vinegar to test and no reaction. Will malt be ok??

Don't know, was it single malt? lol. JK

All I've ever heard is that white vinegar is what to use and that the test doesn't work on all rocks. I'd test the pH in the tank, put it in and do nothing to the tank for 24-48hrs and test the pH again. If it jumps, I'd pull it myself but my pH is a rock solid 7.8 and that's high enough for my liking.

 

[Bovbov]

Thanks guys and I will do
Mr.Limpet

 

[Bovbov]

Well it hasn't raised my ph!! Got some java moss growing off it

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Well it hasn't raised my ph!! Got some java moss growing off it

Good to hear. Java moss rocks

 

[Rokuzachi]

Does slate really require that much prep? Ever since I can remember, I've just scrubbed it off/disinfected it, tested it with vinegar and tossed it in.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Does slate really require that much prep? Ever since I can remember, I've just scrubbed it off/disinfected it, tested it with vinegar and tossed it in.

I guess it all depends on what your level of concern is. If I get something from a LFS, I do what you just described. But if someone gives it to me and I don't know where it came from, my concern goes up a tick. Ask the guy here that picked up some DW from a creek, did a quick whatever it was, stuck it in his tank and it promptly killed all his fish.

 

[Rokuzachi]

I guess it all depends on what your level of concern is. If I get something from a LFS, I do what you just described. But if someone gives it to me and I don't know where it came from, my concern goes up a tick. Ask the guy here that picked up some DW from a creek, did a quick whatever it was, stuck it in his tank and it promptly killed all his fish.

Ouch. The only two "wild" things I've ever put in a tank were a piece of red lava rock from a nearby dead volcano and some black slate from a local slate quarry that had been shut down.

I wouldn't put anything absorbent, like wood, in a tank from the wild though, since there's no telling what kind of contaminants it could have soaked up from whatever might be getting dumped in the creek.

 

[jetajockey]

Where do you think wood comes from?

Considering the amount of people that put driftwood in their tanks I think it's safe to say that the chance of something tank-destroying being soaked into the wood is probably really rare. It would also be wise to harvest driftwood from known clean water areas i.e. not downstream from a chemical factory.

The wood that I purchase from a local collector is pulled from some clean area creeks and then sun baked and put into storage. I've yet to have any issues with it other than having to add weight to some pieces.

 

[Rokuzachi]

Where do you think wood comes from?

Considering the amount of people that put driftwood in their tanks I think it's safe to say that the chance of something tank-destroying being soaked into the wood is probably really rare. It would also be wise to harvest driftwood from known clean water areas i.e. not downstream from a chemical factory.

The wood that I purchase from a local collector is pulled from some clean area creeks and then sun baked and put into storage. I've yet to have any issues with it other than having to add weight to some pieces.

Well obviously we come from different areas. Where I used to live, grabbing a piece of waterlogged wood out of a creek would practically be a guarantee of bringing something nasty into your tank.

Commercial driftwood is another matter entirely, as there's the expectation that it was harvested from a safe area.

Grabbing a piece of wood out of a creek, not the same thing.

 

[jetajockey]

Well obviously we come from different areas. Where I used to live, grabbing a piece of waterlogged wood out of a creek would practically be a guarantee of bringing something nasty into your tank.

sounds like it, don't think i'd be going for a swim anywhere like that lol.

Commercial driftwood is another matter entirely, as there's the expectation that it was harvested from a safe area.

What do you consider a safe area? I think that expectation of 'clean' wood would/should be on anyone collecting anything that is going to make its way into a fish tank, commercial or personal. There isn't any regulation on stuff like this so I don't see how me collecting DW from a local source is any riskier than buying from my friends in retail who buy their DW from suppliers (the same basic suppliers that I get mine from) apart from it being marked up through the middle man.

Grabbing a piece of wood out of a creek, not the same thing.

I do see your point, but I still don't understand how buying DW from a retailer makes it any safer than collecting it yourself.

I thought about one exception. I really believe that much of the 'driftwood' that is bought/sold is not even real driftwood, per se. As in, it's not something that's possibly even seen a body of water, let alone drifted in it.