[sewingalot]

I have these beautiful rocks I'd love to use that I collected locally. Iron rich, coal rich, and most affect the water parameters, gh/ph mostly. If I were to epoxy them, would this make them safe enough to use in the tank?

 

[Elrodg]

If you soak them in hot water and go over them with a toothbrush it should make them safe for your tank.

 

[OverStocked]

If you soak them in hot water and go over them with a toothbrush it should make them safe for your tank.

If the rocks change gh/gh, this isn't going to change that.

I think epoxy coating would be fine, however it will likely change the look of the rock significantly.

How much do they change gh/kh?

 

[150EH]

It's going to give them a permanent wet look but glossy, so try to find something with a matte, satin, or flat finish would be best.

Try soaking them in water with know parameters then check to see what changes, but if you do it might be a while before they dry good enough to be covered with epoxy, etc.

 

[kamikazi]

It's going to give them a permanent wet look

Why is this an issue if they are going to wet in the aquarium?

 

[OverStocked]

Why is this an issue if they are going to wet in the aquarium?

They will still appear "glossy" in the tank with water on them. Much like epoxy coated gravel, etc.

They'll look like wet stones out of water. Darker, glossier, etc.

 

[audioaficionado]

I think epoxy is safe to use, but I don't like the look. It doesn't look natural and has an artificial sheen to it even underwater. Also if you add up the cost of using it on a large aquarium project, it's not that much cheaper than just using something really nice like ADA AS New soil which is sold by volume rather than weight. I compared some pretty gravel at Petsmart and I wasn't saving even $50 over the equivalent volume of ASN needed for a 120gal tank.

 

[sewingalot]

Don't want the glossy look if I can avoid it. I'll try some smaller stones and see if I can find a matte finish out there. I stopped counting at 15 on both tests as I didn't want to waste the solution. It's more than twice what my water is originally.

This is coal and iron rich rock, sandstones, and lime. I want to use locally collected stones, but wanted to use shrimp to mimic 'crawdaddies.'

Not a matter of cost, but a matter of wanting something of a biotope with a twist. These rocks are too beautiful not to utilize in my opinion.

 

[audioaficionado]

Show us pictures of those beautiful rocks.

If the epoxy is too shiny, you could dust them with very fine silica sand/dust to dull them up, but not hide the coarse textures and colors.