Stone

[MarkW19]

I've just bought a piece of white, softish, rough stone (not sure what type!) from my LFS, it's a bit dirty (dust etc.) so I'm going to give it a good rinse with warm water.

What else do I need to do before I put it in my tank?

 

[Atari]

I would check to see if it's carbonate based with some vinegar.

 

[MarkW19]

How do I do that? :/

 

[RogerMcAllen]

Put some vinegar on the rock, if it fizzes, it would probably not be a good rock to add to your tank. If you are still unsure, you could add a stronger acid such as muratic (concentrated HCl) and repeat the test.

 

[MarkW19]

OK, thanks - just normal brown table vinegar?

 

[Atari]

Either put a few drops of vinegar directly onto it or better yet scrape some of it off and then put a few drops on that.. if it's carbonate based it will produce CO2 and you'll see it fizzing.

If it doesn't fizz and I don't know where it came from then I would be a bit hesitant to put it in my tank. You never know what kind of stuff could leech out of it eg. metal deposits.

Was it sold to you as ocean rock?

 

[MarkW19]

OK, looks like it's a bit iffy to put in my tank then.

Can I bleach it or something?

 

[Atari]

Did it fizz?

 

[MarkW19]

Just about to do it

 

[MarkW19]

Yeah it fizzed.

 

[crage34]

take it back and tell them i wasnt suitable for u. did u tell the lfs that it was for a sw tank?

 

[Atari]

I say go for it.. did they tell you it was ocean rock?

 

[Atari]

Hold up here.. the fizzing is a good sign lol.. try it on LR and you'll see the same thing.

 

[crage34]

lol...yeah im an idiot

 

[MarkW19]

They didn't tell me anything

So, I wanted it to fizz?? If it fizz's it's ok to go in my tank without anything else doing to it (apart from rinsing it to get the dirt off)?

It fizzed lightly - I had to put my ear right up to it to hear it, but it was fizzing alright.

 

[MarkW19]

Put some vinegar on the rock, if it fizzes, it would probably not be a good rock to add to your tank. If you are still unsure, you could add a stronger acid such as muratic (concentrated HCl) and repeat the test.

???

 

[Atari]

The fizzing just tells you that it will help buffer your pH... which is a property of marine rock not freshwater rock, so it narrows it down somewhat. The final call is still yours to make

 

[MarkW19]

Grr!

Can I soak it in something to get rid of any metals etc.?

 

[RogerMcAllen]

Since I don't want to hand out repeat bad advice, why is it that you want it to fizz? I thought lack of fizz meant that the rock was inert, and thus would not slowly dissolve into your tank.

 

[Biggen]

Since I don't want to hand out repeat bad advice, why is it that you want it to fizz? I thought lack of fizz meant that the rock was inert, and thus would not slowly dissolve into your tank.

I assume its because of possible buffering capacity. Much like Aragonite (CaCO3) sand . However, I doubt it would make much of a difference in a typical reef tank or we wouldn't need Kalk, Ca reactors, B-Ionic, etc...