rocks and logs from local creek

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m.parker

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jul 4, 2007
Messages
29
i needed some nice rocks and maybe a piece of driftwood, anyhow i went down to the local creek (more like a small river, deer creek if anyone is local to me(columbus ohio))

are they usable in my fresh water tank? some are slimmy.. ekk is there anything i can do to make them safe for my tank?
 
A way to test rocks is to add some drops of vinegar (or stronger acid) on them and see if fizzes - if so, it will raise or effect your pH. Also, look carefully at the rock to make sure there is no metal or metal veins in it. This would be bad for your fish. Scrub and boil the rock to make sure no unwanted hitch hikers are released in to the tank. It's best to make a positive ID of the rock and then do additional searches or ask questions to see if that is okay or safe to use.

As for the wood - some types of wood are better then others. Usually the "hard wood" like maple, ash, oak last longer. Softer woods (ex: birch, any pine) will disintegrate faster and pine pitch/sap can also be very messy, if not toxic. Also, keep in mind that boiling the wood can also leave behind very difficult to remove sap/residue in the container.
 
i know ive got some sand stone, not sure about the ones i pulled from the creek... they are pretty dirty, black around the edges and like pale white in some spots... ill clean them up and snap pictures....


UPDATE------------
ok i know this probally isnt going to work well... but its worth a shot....

here are a few, if i get "youll be ok with thoes..." ect.. comments, ill take pictures of the other two... but the look like the rest....


img_816435_0_ff30406f7288b145d86ac0440b88d3a0.jpg

img_816435_1_50255695a65b551ac925f49df5df9c58.jpg

img_816435_2_fbfac9059db0aa6edfcbfa6cb84b4ac0.jpg

img_816435_3_87676c268bee75e53dc9bbdd19a18568.jpg
 
I would be sure to test the one in the middle bottom with vinegar (in the final picture) that looks to me like it could very easily be sedimentary calcium carbonate.

Really, you should test them all, but calcium carbonates tend to be white. This isn't a hard and fast rule, I have some beautiful peach and brown aragonite (one crystal form), and I think there are even some rare green ones.

Another way to test is to take two buckets of water. Put your rocks in one bucket, leave the other one without rocks as a control. After a week test to see if the pH of the bucket with rocks has changed.


As long as they won't mess up your pH you just need to clean/sanitize them, as brought up above. Driftwood should always be sanitized somehow, either boiling (the easiest/fastest), bleach (touchy, takes a long time), or saltwater (not a method I like at all). The driftwood itself is safe, the only problem is that it might leach tannins and turn your water brownish if not boiled/soaked enough...it's just all the fungi and diseases it may bring in you have to kill.

I personally have tons of driftwood, rocks, and gravel in my tanks from local rivers (and a piece of driftwood from the Pacific Ocean)...and I've never regretted using them. Just be careful to sanitize.
 
hummm... i think i might just buy something from the LFS....
 
Don't be scared off. Buying rocks from the store is incredibly expensive, and much of what they sell (such as Texas holey rock) will actually raise the pH because it's primarily used for African cichlid tanks. I'm always happy when I can find something pretty to use in my tank, but then I love splashing around in creeks.

You could even just put them in the tank (once well cleaned) and just monitor the pH often. If it starts to rise for no apparent reason pull them.
 
bump

just posted something similar about using moss from a local pond/stream in my tank as some carpet plantings... any idea on how good/bad this idea is?
 
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