Is this rock from Lake Malawi?

[LosC]

I picked up a box of different colored rocks today. The guy told me he buys most of his stuff from the states where he got the rocks. He said the guy where he got them from told him that they're from Lake Malawi.

Are they really from Lake Malawi, notice the different kinds. Can anyone tell me about them, will they affect my water?

[angelcakes]

to be honest i don't have a clue but nice rock..........:19:

[LosC]

really, thanks.

[Ellen4God]

This is probably a very stupid question - but does it really matter? If you boil it or whatever, it'll kill of anything bad. I've also heard of doing the test with vinegar (I think it's vinegar - others can tell you for sure). Put a drop of vinegar on the rock - if it bubbles, don't use it! If not, then you're good to go!

As long as you take the 'normal' precautions as you would if you had picked the rock up on the side of a stream in your backyard, I would think you'd be safe - no matter where it came from in the world.

[Incredulous_Ed]

I cant imagine then taking rock from the lake. It doesnt really look much like the rock the Mbuna live in (I think). I think they live in piles of rounded bouders. Either way, they look nice.

[tropfish]

looks like slate/shale, i picked some up at the stream near my house for my tank actually. It's perfectly safe. I just check for metal deposits, scrub them then boil them then add them. I don't put vinigar on them because i can pretty much tell which rocks are safe or not.

[LosC]

There's some rocks out there that will mess up your water no matter how much you clean them. The rocks seem to be layered if you look at the sides. What's with the crystals in the small one? I'm scrubbin em right now, I left them in hot water last night and I'll be doin that again tonite. Thanks, I didn't know what nice rock looked like.

[Drumachine09]

Its just slate. He's yanking you.

[A340]

I don't think anyone of us can tell you if they are actually from Lake Malawi or not. Personally, I doubt it, but you never know.

If you are putting them in your tank, make sure you clean them real good and do the vinegar test as mentioned above.

[Halelorf]

Drumachine summed it all up. It's just a common slate rock. I HIGHLY doubt anyone would pay to transfer slate all the way from Africa. Go to a landscaping place that sells rocks and you should be able to get a huge amount for dirt cheap.