elephantnose
Aquarium Advice Addict
I added lawn lava rocks To my tank. Within an hour these green things showed up on the rock. Is this something I should be worried about or is some cool plant going to grow.
Help!!!....What's growing on my lava rock?
- Thread starter elephantnose
- Start date
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Khuligirl93
Aquarium Advice Addict
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- Apr 13, 2013
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I would not advise adding anything from your lawn.
It's probably some type of terrestrial plant seeds that were embedded in the rock and when they became wet, started to germinate. 1 hour seems way too fast for it to be any algae. If I were you I'd take the rocks out because there are a number of undesirable things in lawns such as fertilizers and weed killers that you don't want in a tank. But you could keep a rock in a cup of water to see what those grow into
It's probably some type of terrestrial plant seeds that were embedded in the rock and when they became wet, started to germinate. 1 hour seems way too fast for it to be any algae. If I were you I'd take the rocks out because there are a number of undesirable things in lawns such as fertilizers and weed killers that you don't want in a tank. But you could keep a rock in a cup of water to see what those grow into
ArtistGardener
Aquarium Advice Freak
I agree with Khuligirl. My guess it is a terrestrial moss that won't show up until it gets wet. At any rate, if you wanted to use those rocks you would need to either boil them (don't do it--they might explode) or soak them in a mild bleach solution for 15 minutes, then soak again in water with lots of dechlorinator and let dry out for several days. There is still the chance of oil-based insecticide or herbicide chemical residue. Not sure if it is worth it.
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elephantnose
Aquarium Advice Addict
I boiled them for an hour or two. Making sure they didn't explode. My lawn doesn't receive any pesticides or chemicals.
ArtistGardener
Aquarium Advice Freak
Certain spores can survive boiling, but not many. My bet is it is still a terrestrial form of moss or lichen. I'm not sure if blue-green algae endospores (cyanobacteria) can survive boiling, but that is another possibility.
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elephantnose
Aquarium Advice Addict
Before I put the rock in my main tank I threw some in a tank full of feeder fish. So dr it's been a week and all the feeder fish are still alive.
