Beach Pebbles Safe Or Big No No

[liamhuckle]

I have a beach clise to me with some decent size and nice looking pebbles would these be safe in a tropical tank or not ?

 

[Noahs ark6]

I have used them before with no problems, just make sure you put them in boiling water first, to kill any nasties

 

[J@son]

I have a beach clise to me with some decent size and nice looking pebbles would these be safe in a tropical tank or not ?

yes as long as you boil them well, as sea rocks tend to have living organisms on them

 

[Flute]

If the beach is clean and not really manky, it should be ok. Just make sure you give them a good scrub and boil them. Be sure to test the stones to see if they're safe by doing a vinegar test. If they fizz, they're no good. Also, an interesting note I read in PFK a couple of months ago:

"Soft water aquarists would also do well to avoid rocks with veins. These can represent the presence of metal ores and, in acidic conditions, can leach out heavy metals. These, such as zinc, copper or lead, can be lethal to aquarium inhabitants, especially invertebrates."

 

[DrRob]

I'd probably be more of an advocate of soaking them a few times to get the salt off, and then pouring boiling water over them. Some rocks will explode if the core gets hot enough.

Oh, and do remember that they stay hot for a very, very, very long time.

 

[liamhuckle]

Thanks for the quick reply guys trip to the beach this weekend

 

[LucyB]

WOOOOAAH Did you paint that picture in your sig!?


And I use rocks from the beach all the time. Boil them and scrub them and... voila!!

 

[Flute]

I did yeah Using photoshop and a graphics tablet. It's of my old betta Tyr :3

 

[fluttermoth]

Liam; I feel I should warn you that, in the UK at least, taking rocks from beaches is against the law, so you might want to check up on that first.

DrRob is right about boiling the rocks too; it can be very, very dangerous, so please don't do that! There are very few (well I can't think of any, but there are bound to be one or two obscure ones somewhere!) parasites or diseases that can live in both fresh and salt water, so if you're using it in a freshwater tank, then just pouring boiling water over it, leaving it to cool and then drying completely will do a good enough job.

I wouldn't use beach rocks in a marine set up though, just to be on the safe side.

 

[liamhuckle]

Liam; I feel I should warn you that, in the UK at least, taking rocks from beaches is against the law, so you might want to check up on that first.

DrRob is right about boiling the rocks too; it can be very, very dangerous, so please don't do that! There are very few (well I can't think of any, but there are bound to be one or two obscure ones somewhere!) parasites or diseases that can live in both fresh and salt water, so if you're using it in a freshwater tank, then just pouring boiling water over it, leaving it to cool and then drying completely will do a good enough job.

I wouldn't use beach rocks in a marine set up though, just to be on the safe side.

i never knew it was against the law

 

[J@son]

nobody will notice a few rocks gone

 

[DrRob]

Whilst this is almost certainly true, it doesn't change the advice to check what you're doing. There is a reason for a lot of these laws that may seem incomprehensible, but if it happens to be a habitat for an endangered species that you're tampering with then you could both harm them and end up in far more trouble than you bargained for.

Also, as an aside, please don't encourage law breaking, you'll get us into trouble.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

I scrub and boil anything from outside that I put in my tank no matter where it comes from.

Maidenhead Aquatics (at least near me) sells all sorts of nice stones and rocks). I have been just getting mine from flower beds and the park since I'm cheap.

 

[fluttermoth]

nobody will notice a few rocks gone

I know, it sounds ridiculous, but my mate used to work for the Environment Agency, and he said that, on an averagely busy beach, if each visitor took just two rocks, that could add up to over a hundred tonnes of rock a year disappearing! It really can have an impact on coastal erosion.