[philipraposo1982]

Vinegar didn't seem to do anything. Scratched it with a nail and get whites powder.

Has some dark colors in there when wet.

Any idea? Sold to me as granite river rock. I got a bunch I'm different t sizes. Some other colors too not just these.

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[thedood]

That does indeed look like granite.

 

[philipraposo1982]

Is granite softer than a nail? Should I be able to scratch it?

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[philipraposo1982]

If I break one would it help truly identify it?

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[Kathyy]

Granite is pretty hard, don't know that it can be scratched with steel.

If you have a nitrate test drop solution #1 on it. Calcareous rock will bubble like mad. The rock that is bubbling is the very first rock I ever put in my tank, a 10 gallon one. Cannot believe I still have it hanging around, it just sits in the garden. The larger rock might be weathered basalt and the small one might be granite.

 

[philipraposo1982]

So nitrate solution will indicate that the rock will raise ph by adding hardness? Calcium? So I am new to this.

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[thedood]

I would stick them in a bucket of water for a few days or a week and see what happens to the ph if you have doubts.

 

[philipraposo1982]

I just did a huge water change, tested my tap and tanks gh kh and ph. Now will add some rocks and monitors every few days.

I heard of some metal that can kill fish in rocks. How do I know if my rocks have this metal?

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[Diana]

Granite is soft enough to scratch with a nail. Granite is found worldwide, and there are some variations in the minerals that make up granite. On Mohs Hardness scale they tend to be about 6-7.

If you have one you are willing (and able) to break, it might help. At this point, though, it might be better to seek out a local expert if you want closer ID.

But I do not know if exact ID is needed for aquarium use. Stick some in a bucket of water, prepared the way you will prepare it for the aquarium. Test GH, KH, TDS, pH when you start, the next day, and a few days later. If there are no changes or only very small ones, then go ahead and use it.

 

[Kathyy]

Check pH, the GH and the KH. Hope they work out, nice looking rocks.

For all that that rock is bubbling up maybe it did nothing to pH, GH and KH in my tank, no idea. We were sold a water softener so the water was supposed to be fairly hard. If the tap water was hard then it isn't likely that rock would have changed water parameters all that much.

The acid from the nitrate test is reacting with calcium carbonate in a stronger version of the baking soda and vinegar volcano. Vinegar did nothing to that rock.

 

[philipraposo1982]

What about the toxic metal I read about? Possible to be in these rocks? Any way to identify it?


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[philipraposo1982]

I just tried the nitrate 1 solution on some of them and while one of them did fizz. It was only in a spot and very very little. Nothing like your photo. The other didn't fizz at all.

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[Immortal1]

Copper would be the one thing that I would worry about as far as metals go. With that said, I would be hard pressed to believe you could find copper in granite (or any other metals). With that said, the other thing that I noticed is the rocks appear smooth and round as if they have been in a river or somewhere they would get the edges rubbed smooth. If there was anything that "could" leach out of them, I would suspect that would have happened many years ago.

 

[Diana]

I usually associate metals with colored patches, such as rust (iron) or greenish (copper).
For the rocks in the picture, look them over, but I do not think you will find anything like that.

A few drops of fizz, a few bubbles might just be a reaction to some dust on the surface of the rock, but it sounds so far like these will work in the tank.

 

[philipraposo1982]

Thanks for the great feedback that makes a lot of sense.

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[Blacktetra]

As Diana and others suggested, just put it in the same water you plan on using in your tank and test it every few days, if there is very little change, your good to go. The chances of your rock containing large traces of toxic metals is very low unless you pulled it out of a drainage pond next to a parking lot where all that nasty can be washed by the rain all over said rocks.

This hobby requires some degree of experimentation sometimes. If you are super concerned about the rocks being poisonous then don't use them, or just put them in an aquarium with a couple guppies and see how they do. After all, while I value life, if I can spare the death of my whole main tank, by seeing how a couple guppies respond to a few suspicious rocks, then I'll be doing the whole tank a favor if the two guppies kick the bucket and die, saving the rest of my fish from the experience.

 

[philipraposo1982]

Here is one of the rocks broken if it helps
The rocks came from a landscape yard here in southern Ontario Canada.
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[philipraposo1982]

Oops..

 

[PlantedRich]

And then there is history to think about. Copper, iron, steel and brass are all part of the water supply chain and your water is in it for a long time before it gets to your tank. so we know that it all may degrade a certain amount but not very quick. So the question might be what happens when it is in your tank but you are doing water changes. I feel that if you have reasonably normal water that is not really acidic, the chance of the metal in your rocks, if any, will not degrade faster than you are removing it with water changes. If your rock has been in your local water for a few hundred years, I don't see it falling apart real quick in your tank!

 

[philipraposo1982]

Good point rich. I am feeling good about keep these.

Also with the amount of manzanita I will have even if some did harden the water a bit the wood would likely counter it by softening. So all is well

Thanks.

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