Cleaning of rocks.

[escamosa]

I've decided to arrange a few rocks in my tank to replace a stinky fake log that i had in there and was wondering, apart from just washing the rocks with plain water is there anything else i should do with them or use to cleen them?

Thank's.

[brentw]

I was told to run hot boiling water over the rocks.

[bushwhacker]

scrub them with a stiff brush and hot water, then pour a little vinegar on them to check for fizzing.. if you dont get any rinse them real well and drop em in

[Rue]

Apparently the vinegar test isn't strong enough...it won't fizz on a lot of rocks that are toxic to your tank....so you have to be careful.

You're supposed to use hydrochloric acid, but that gets dangerous...

How do you identify carbonate rocks? The short answer is the acid test. It is often suggested that dropping vinegar on the rock and seeing if it fizzes will identify a carbonate. This works in some cases, but not all. Vinegar is too weak an acid to provide a reliable test for carbonate. You should use dilute hydrochloric acid, like field geologists do, to determine carbonate. Dilute HCl., sometimes called Muriatic acid in hardware or pool-supply stores is an infallible indicator of carbonate rocks. Put a drop or two on the rock and if it has carbonate content, it will fizz like soda pop. Dilute HCl is corrosive so you should wear gloves and eye protection as you would do when working with ammonia, bleach, or other such chemicals.


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[NickFish]

Hydrocholric acid is very tricky to get, at least where I live. I've asked some of the science professors but the answer is always the same. I can't legally give you any and I can't tell you where to get it. Not sure about the rules where you are though.

For me, the vinegar test suffices. I suppose maybe on a smaller scale ther emay be something leaching into the tank, but I really haven't noticed. You should also visually check your rocks for metal. Its surprising how many random rocks on the ground will contain veins of metal.
Takashi Amano himself will purposely use rocks that will raise pH, and some that contain metals. It is possible to live with such a rock, not ideal but if you do happen to accidently put in a rock that raises your pH it won't kill the tank. Take precautions, but its not the end of the world if a bad rock gets in.

Good luck, a good rockscape is a very attractive feature in any aquarium!

[PostalPenguin]

I would surmise that any rock that is carbonate based but doesn't respond to the vinegar test would leach so slowly into your tank that regular water changes would take care of any change in pH.

[bushwhacker]

rue what about muriatic acid i know i can get that locally

[Rue]

Yes...same thing as far as I know!

But do be careful!

I had an accident with an acid spill when I was 19...still have the scars...although thankfully they faded fairly well after about 5-6 years following the incident...

[bushwhacker]

well muriatic acid can be gotten at any pool supply store, tho using on any rock i wanted to place in a tank might worry me a bit.. i normally just do the vinegar test. rue what rocks are you talking about that may not show up using vinegar?

[Rue]

It's in the little quote from a previous post - if you click on the link you'll get to the article. It's a nice, concise piece.

You don't want carbonate rocks (limestone) in your tank because they may raise the pH of your tank too much, and the acid tests for those...

However, if you have cichlids that's not such a bad thing, provided the rocks don't interfere with keeping your pH stable. But if you have soft-water fish, it can cause problems.

The other problems that certain rocks might contribute to, aren't diagnosed with the acid test - so it's only for carbonate...

[bushwhacker]

well i did use a fist sized chunk of calcium carbonate crystal in my last african tank years ago the rocks in my tetra tank came from the local river no metal and no limestone here
slimey i do apoligise for hijacking your thread like this i hope maybe you got something out of the discussion

[escamosa]

well i did use a fist sized chunk of calcium carbonate crystal in my last african tank years ago the rocks in my tetra tank came from the local river no metal and no limestone here
slimey i do apoligise for hijacking your thread like this i hope maybe you got something out of the discussion

There's no worries here bushwacker, that's what i like about AC, there's alot of opinions on different thing's around here and if you put all of em together, or at least take notice of em all, i'm sure you'll do the right thing in the end.
Thank's everyone.thumbs2: