Final consensus on these rocks? (To use/Not to use)

[jeremyTR]

I want to rescape my 10G because it's been the same way for awhile and I found these rocks at work a little bit ago but got told they were probably unusable and I just want a final consensus on this. - just to be sure.

[Dmckmc]

I think they are cool looking rocks. The question is will they contaminate your tank?

I have read that you need to be careful when using hardscape of unknown origin. I guess the theory is you never know what pollutants you may end up putting in your tank.

That said, I found some rocks at a local landscaping yard that I liked. The owner left me take them home. Now don't laugh, but I boiled them. Yup, I put them on the stove and made stone soup. Then I put them in a 5 gallon bucket for a few weeks and changed the water frequently. When the water stopped turning yellow, I put them in my tank.

Can't tell you if that made a difference or if I just made a fool out of myself but one thing is for sure, I did not have any problems when I put them in my tank.

[jcgd]

They look sweet. Use em.

[Hoppy]

Just soak them in water for a couple of days, and scrub the surfaces with a brush. If the water discolors I would repeat the soaking and scrubbing until it doesn't, but I don't see why the water would discolor.

[ChadRamsey]

i like them. as long as the were safe, i would use them without a doubt.

good luck

[TerriM]

Those are great. Soak and use definitely!

[DerekFF]

Originally Posted by Dmckmc

I think they are cool looking rocks. The question is will they contaminate your tank?

I have read that you need to be careful when using hardscape of unknown origin. I guess the theory is you never know what pollutants you may end up putting in your tank.

That said, I found some rocks at a local landscaping yard that I liked. The owner left me take them home. Now don't laugh, but I boiled them. Yup, I put them on the stove and made stone soup. Then I put them in a 5 gallon bucket for a few weeks and changed the water frequently. When the water stopped turning yellow, I put them in my tank.

Can't tell you if that made a difference or if I just made a fool out of myself but one thing is for sure, I did not have any problems when I put them in my tank.

I giggled a little at the boiling, but not the soaking part. That rock looks like a hard rock, not some porous or mineral rock. Im sure its fine. Like hoppy said if it doesnt leech any coloration into the water its fine

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[nesopheus]

If you haven't tried to identify them yet try http://www.minsocam.org/msa/collecto...d/rock_key.htm I am a serious rock in tank man myself, but I like to experiment on my guppies first. A couple of questions; did you find the rocks in a body of water? Does that body of water support aquatic life? It's a good bet if you answered yes to these questions that your rocks are safe. Did you get these rocks from an excavation site? If yes you might take a few more precations, mankind has been killing watersheds by mining by exposing water soluable minerals to aquatic life for as long as we've been mining. That being said, if you can ID your rock as safe, a good scrubbing and rinse should do, then toss a cheap fish in with your rock and if he survives a week you will know it's OK.

[nvladik]

I say use them!

[PlantedRich]

This is a question as old as time but still needs an answer. Most rocks are totally safe but sometimes they have things on them that are not safe. Rocks around people get all kinds of bad stuff on them which may be seen ---or not. One way to make anything safe for the tank is to treat it all before we use it.
You most likely have chlorine or chloramine in your tap water and deal with it. The chlorine in drinking water is the same as chlorine in bleach. Many small well operators do buy their chlorine off the shelf at the store. All we have to do is deal with it in the same way.
Boiling does nothing to clear oil, gas or pesticides from rocks. It just spreads it around.
Chlorine is the way used by water treatment plants so I feel they know far better than most hobby types.

Soak the rocks in water with a strong dose of regular cheap household bleach without scents like lemon. Your wife may have it setting on her shelf. About a half cup will do it. After it soaks 12 hours or so, it will be clean and disinfected. Wash the rocks to dilute any bleach left on the surface. This gets it down to pretty close to drinking water strength. Let the rocks set somewhere to dry totally. Rough, porous rocks take longer to dry. This lets chlorine gas off into the air. Remember smelling chlorine near pools? That is the chlorine gassing off! After diluting and gassing off, there is no chlorine left but some people feel better about adding some dechlor product. There are some who say there is some mystery product that soaks in but doesn't dry out but they can't quite explain how that works so I don't buy it!

You can get by and many do but do you want a safe rock or one that might be safe?

[stevenjohn21]

They look dangerous to use, with that said you should box them up and send them to me ;-)
Great looking rock !!, go with a good soaking with either salt or vinegar in a bucket, good stiff brush and 30 mins of elbow grease.

Id also fill a bucket up with the rocks in and buy some 13c feeder fish .....if they last a week your good to go :-)

[DerekFF]

Dear lord people. Theyre freakin rocks not nuclear rods. A little soak and a scrub is plenty

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[Hoppy]

Originally Posted by DerekFF

Dear lord people. Theyre freakin rocks not nuclear rods.

Are you sure? Should the OP use a Geiger counter to be sure?

[jeremyTR]

Originally Posted by Hoppy

Are you sure? Should the OP use a Geiger counter to be sure?

Lol. Got one I could borrow?

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[TexasCichlid]

Originally Posted by DerekFF

Dear lord people. Theyre freakin rocks not nuclear rods. A little soak and a scrub is plenty

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Does not take nuclear rods to have a bad aquarium day. There are plenty of rocks that contain leachable quantities of stuff that will make for a problem. For example, quartz is pretty but is often associated with pyrite. And pyrite is something you definitely do not want in your tank. Rocks that rust are not inherently dangerous, but excessive amounts of rust can discolor water and excessive iron leaching can be an issue too. There are plenty of other things that can cause problems.