?ROCKS?

[FishGeek]

I went to New York for the first time the other day. I walked on the beach and the beach is covered is rocks. I found a couple that were really cool looking and I wanted to put them in my tank. How should I go about cleaning them? I know that I shouldnt use soap, but from that I am not sure. ???
guppy_newbe

 

[OCCFan023]

you can boil them for a hour or two, that will clean them pretty good. You can also put some vinegar on them and see if it fizzes, if it fizzes their no good.

 

[punkrockfish]

scrub them down with just some water, need to get the salt off them if they were from the beach. boiling is always good, maybe a bleach/water solution. the vinegar test, as occfan said, is always a good way to tell if the rock is good or not.

 

[FishGeek]

thanks
guppy_newbe

 

[fiugzel]

Hey guys.

I went and got some rocks from a riverbank near me today. They passed the vinegar test, so I cleaned off the dirt and put them in a pot to boil. After about 1½ hours, I took the pot off. After cooling enough, I took out a rock and it's still slimy. Is this normal? Then I boiled them again for about another 1½ hours. Same thing. Just scrub them or what?

 

[BigDaddy420]

i always scrub my down with a clean scrub brush, boil them for a little while, and let them soak in the hot water for awhile before i put them in the tank. i always put a little dechlor in the water when i let it soak.

 

[hyunelan2]

Are you sure it's slime, and not just a 'slippery-when-wet' rock?

 

[fiugzel]

No, I'm not sure of that. I don't know what type of rock it is.

But the slime stuff comes off when you rub your fingernail across it.

 

[MOsborne05]

While we're on this subject ~
I wanted to get some small rock caves for my bb gobies but couldn't find any that I liked. So I went to the local nursery and bought some flat rocks to make my own caves. I washed/scrubbed them with water and now they are pretty clean. They kind of have a shimmery glittery appearance though, so I'm wondering if they are ok to use in my tank. The only kind of aquarium safe glue that the lfs has is the silicone sealant, is that ok to use to glue the pieces together to form caves?

 

[wayne]

The slime is probably killed algae/bacteria that needs to fall off. I just brush my rocks under a running tap.

Point of order - defining a rock as 'no good' because it fails the vinegar begs the question nogood for what? All it means is that it contains calcium carbonate, so if you want to have hard water for your livebearers or african cichlids it's excellent.

 

[Fish Friend]

how would you go about this with plants...today i got some of that stuff that floats on the top of your tank water that can multiply very very fast from this spring down the road...will it be safe? because i have already added it not thinking, but i have washed it first?