River gravel

[Padams]

Any concerns using river gravel in a FW tank? I found some I like in the Tennessee River and can get as much as I want/ need for free.
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I realize it will need to be cleaned WELL. I suppose bleach would be best followed by a lot of rinsing.

[Gramazing]

That's a bargain! The only thing that occurs to me would be the mineral content of the gravel. Test your tap water pH then test it again when your gravel has been soaking in it for a while.

[UncleWillie]

There is no problem. The substrate in all my tanks (except one) is collected substrate from the Little River, TN.
If you decide not to clean or bleach it, you will have an instantly cycled tank. However, the Tenn. River isn't known for it's cleanliness and lack of contaminants, so maybe cleaning is in order:sbiggrin:
I hard to beat 'free' natural substrate, huh? :)

[Padams]

FREE is best. All it will cost me is gas, well I 'll already be there anyway. I was concerned due to the abundance of FW calm shells. I do not want to have to cook my kids gravel if there were any live ones. :hmm3grin2orange:

I'm thinking of getting enough for the next couple of tanks and just storing it away till MTS gets worse.