sanitizing rocks

[gypsydancer]

I work in lapidary and I was wondering if anyone knew of a way to clean slabs and cut rocks to remove the Pella oil enough to make the slabs and rocks safe to be put in an aquarium? Any suggestions?

[ElizabethJKR]

Would think making a paste of baking soda and water would help remove the oil. That way no soap is used which isn't healthy for the fish.

[geowashlaw]

I'm not familiar with that oil or what will break it's bond on the rock, but I would think anything that would accomplish that and is naturally occurring would work fine ... ammonia, chlorine bleach, etc.

[ElizabethJKR]

I don't think you'd want to use bleach on a rock. I would think some bleach would soak into the rock. I know letting it soak should remove it, but I would still be afraid of it leeching into the tank.

[geowashlaw]

Chlorine is a naturally occurring gas and evaporates after about 24 hours. All you have to do is soak it in water with dechlorinator and then let it sit out a couple of days and you are fine. I've bleached rocks more time than I can count to get rid of algae. I just soak them in water with a strong concentration of dechlorinator (5x normal) for about an hour and then add a little extra to the tank. The chlorine in bleach is no different than that in your tap water. It is just in a different concentration.

[nikelodeon79]

Bleach is actually one of the safest cleaners to use for aquarium related stuff because you can simply put dechlorinator in the water in case you aren't able to rinse all the bleach off.

[ElizabethJKR]

Huh, good to know. I'm always afraid to use harsh chemicals with the fish tank because I'm never 100% positive I removed all traces of the chemical. Just always felt like bleach was never the right thing to use with a fish tank since it kills everything.

[junkers12]

You could also boil the rocks after the bleach and use a dechlorinator.
I might just boil one of my used to be white toufa rock and tell you how it goes.

[nikelodeon79]

Never boil rocks, they could explode.

[junkers12]

Thanks for that my wife my thank you too for saving her pot from destruction, and the kitchen for that matter.:19: