johnsmith Posted February 23, 2005 Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 I just bought a bunch of rocks labelled "Goat river" from Burnco. I know I can't use any rock with metalic veins and these don't appear to have any, however, some do look like they have rusty stains. The last thing I want is to kill all my fish because I wanted to reaquascape. I wanted some round boulders instead of the "sharp" rocks I have now. Also, the rocks I have are so huge there's only so much that can be done with them. Are these stains common in rocks or is it likely that these rocks are dangerous? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokey Posted February 23, 2005 Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 Goat River is the name of the area where the rock came from. The "rust" colouring could be sedimentory deposits when the rock was formed ... Granite is the safest rock to use. It is [usually] inert. Black Italian slate [ the very old slate formations] is safe, also. What you have to watch for is the rock affecting the pH of the water. Smokey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnsmith Posted February 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 Goat River is the name of the area where the rock came from. The "rust" colouring could be sedimentory deposits when the rock was formed ... Chances are this stuff is fine, but it might not be worth it to find out. Granite is the safest rock to use. It is [usually] inert. Black Italian slate [ the very old slate formations] is safe, also. I'm thinking I might go back and pick up some granite, slate, or just smaller pieces of limestone. What you have to watch for is the rock affecting the pH of the water. With African cichlids I don't think I have to worry about rock affecting the pH. Or do I? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunl Posted February 23, 2005 Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 Just that with something like limestone, it helps to keep it at the correct level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishBrain Posted February 23, 2005 Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 What I did with the rocks i picked in the mountains was soak them over night and let them dry and I found that the ones with metal deposits rusted and those were the ones that I kept out of the tank. you will find the rust on the rocks as you pull them from the water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted February 23, 2005 Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 All of the various rocks that Burnco sells can be seen here: http://www.burnco.com/RetailWeb/web/retail...type=04&siteid= BTW - the water in Calgary is high enough in KH that you don't really need to be concerned with buffering the water, with rocks, or anything else. Unless you allow your water changes to go for long periods, your PH should hold steady between 7.8 - 8.2. year round. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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