Limestone Rock With Holes

[Zagggon]

I have this really nice medium sized limestone rock that I bleached for my 42g hex African tank but never used. So now I want to use it for my 55g for my oscars. It is really clean already but has been sitting outside for about a year now, so im wondering if I should just let it soak in a tub of water for a day or two or just re-bleach it?

 

[jayjay]

Bleach why bleach something for use in a fish tank......

Will affect the pH and it will go up to 8 plus probably....

 

[Zagggon]

Well i had bleached it like a year ago along with another rock that is currently in my 42ghex and those fish are doing great and they absolutley love that rock. Atm I'm just soaking the rock in water outside for a day or two before adding it to the 55g. Ill try to get a pic up. Yes the limestone rocks do raise the PH but my african ciclids in my 42g seem not to mind so i figured my new world ciclids wont mind either.

 

[SamUK]

erm....


african lakes have a high ph water and america doesnt.


thats why you dont keep them together.


cant use anyhting that raises the PH with NW cichlids.

 

[Zagggon]

why cant NW ciclids have a high PH?

BTW here is a pic of my African ciclids and their tank with their rock.

 

[SamUK]

because there natural water has a low ph.


therefore they should be kept in the same.

 

[Zagggon]

yea but these have prolly never lived in natural water, so does it really matter?

 

[pica_nuttalli]

it's not necessarily the pH which is bad for your oscar so much as the added hardness due to the dissolved limestone. i've had holey rock before and the hardness can really soar if you ever get behind on water changes. even if a cichlid has never been in its natural pH, an unnatural hardness can be really bad as it can result in mineral deficiencies (if too low) or deposits similar to kidney stones (if too high).

what's the pH & hardness of your tap water? if both of these are pretty low (pH ~6; kH ~0) then the limestone shouldn't be that big of a problem, especially in a large tank with frequent water changes.

 

[Zagggon]

Yea well our water out here is semi-hard but nothing extreme. I have another tank that has a holey rock in it and those fish never had any issues. I do VERY frequent water changes every day so I dont think it will be much of a problem but I do appreciate the informative responses +)!

 

[pica_nuttalli]

again, it doesn't matter if your other fish have suffered no ill effects due to the limestone. every species has its own strengths and weaknesses--you cannot accurately guess the needs of one type of fish based on the needs of unrelated species.

just because two species are both cichlids doesn't mean that they have much else in common.

since your water is already fairly hard, i would not recommend adding the limestone to the oscar tank. the damage done by inappropriate water parameters is long-term and not necessarily something that you can judge just by looking.

 

[SamUK]

jus let him do it.......

hes gonna anyway.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

jus let him do it.......

hes gonna anyway.

that's a very negative and unhelpful attitude to take. nobody is going to completely change their plans just because a stranger on the internet said "don't" but never explained any reasons not to do so. you haven't even given Zagggon an opportunity to respond to my last post; how do you know that he hasn't changed his mind?

 

[SamUK]

well the 4 times he posted to me.


and if i asked someone the question then yea i would trust there answer.

what would be the point in asking otherwise?

fair enough tho.

hope he listens to ya.


EDIT and after re reading what had been sed. i had explained it.