hey ppl not been on here before im settin up a tropical fish tank i know wat im doing for the fish and stuff as iv done this before the problem i have is iv bought sum spagetti rock and im not sure if its gonna do the fish harm or good no one has sed its to acidic or anything so just wondered if any of you lot will know if so can u let me know so then i dont end up killin them, thnx josh

Do you have any pictures of the rock? I don't know what spaghetti rock is. To tell if it will raise your hardness and pH, pour some vinegar on it. If it doesn't fizz, it won't raise your pH or hardness. If it does, it will.

Ryan

I found a Google cache of a company called Marco Rocks that used to sell something called Australian spaghetti rock. If its the same stuff, it's a coral rock, and likely only suitable for a marine tank.

Do the vinegar test, though, since it may not be the same stuff. Never do know. If its a coral fossil and not just a skeleton, it may be safe - Petoskey stone is a coral fossil, and it passes the vinegar test and doesn't screw with pH. I use several as decoration, as its quite pretty underwater.

This post has been edited by Corleone: Jun 8 2008, 04:44 AM

thnx ppl i took it out it fizzed with the vinegar im just worried now that the ph isnt go back to the norm so ill get sum stuff for it

Unfortunately setting your pH with chemicals (or using them to correct something caused by a rock as in this case) is a nightmare. It just goes on and on and if you forget or make a mistake you can lose fish. Its often better to face reality in the beginning and just don't have it in your water. Only if your tap water tested very soft and acid to begin with might it be possible that this would work out for you unless I'm mistaken.