scrubby Posted October 26, 2005 Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 my lil girl and i are gonna go on a rock hunt for her tank and mine is there anything special you must do to rocks b4 we puyt them in i was thinking about boiling them just in case theres any crap on them :flex: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted October 26, 2005 Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 You might want to bring along a little muric acid (swimming pool pH adjuster) to see if the rock will dissolve in water. Just put a few drops on the rock. If it bubbles, it will dissolve in your tank and usually buffer your pH quite high. If there are no bubbles, they're great for the tank. Then boil 'em for a few minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrubby Posted October 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 thx im a newbie at this so all the help is great yeah the rocks i pick up are not gonna dissolve cant even crack them boiling is a great idea but for really big rock would the tub and tap water work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted October 26, 2005 Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 Even if they're really tough, it's still a good idea to do the acid test. There are some very hard rocks that will dissolve slowly over time - I believe there was just a discussion in the Planted Tank section about Marble doing just that!! If you want to save yourself a trip to the pool supply store, you might be able to get away with vinegar. It's a much weeker acid, but if you look closely, you might be able to see some bubbling. If you're going to be putting the rocks in a FW tank, a good soaking in a salt solution should kill most of the grublies. :chair: HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Ram Posted October 26, 2005 Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 Burnco Retail Centre on Heritage Dr. SE is a good place to go for rocks. I picked up two pails recently of nice smaller sized rocks (fist size) and some slate and they didn't even charge me. Told me I cleaning up their yard! I tested all of the rocks with a muric acid solution (available at Canadian Tire for cheap) and several of the rocks were not suitable. They would leech carbonate into my tanks and potentially raise my ph even higher than it already is in Calgary. If you are not keeping cichlids, you must keep this in mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrubby Posted October 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 so if i got cichlids it doesnt matter or be extra carefull if i do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted October 26, 2005 Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 Rift Lake cichlids would love it! Many others, it seems prefer softer water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunl Posted October 26, 2005 Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 Limestone rocks work great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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