rocks from the beach!

[guppy_man]

hi im going to the beach soon with my family and we are staying in a caravan but we will be on the beach most of the time im woundering will the beach rocks be ok for my freshwater tank if i boil them or disinfect them i really want to know because when i went last time there was rocks there that would of looked great for my tank but i wasnt sure



can you help i wasnt sure where to post it in freshwater or saltwater so i just put it in here.

 

[OohFeeshy]

I'd say you can. Boil and scrub them well, then do the vinegar test. Although do you have any scaless fish?

 

[jflowers]

I use flint rocks (from the beach at G Yarmouth) in all my tanks, test them first with vinegar, if they fizz, chuck em, if they dont, clean em and use them

Jon

 

[guppy_man]

so if i find any rock that i like pick it up bring it home and put drops of vinegar on it and if it fizzs chuck it but no fizz i can keep.

thats cool thanx people for the great help

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Yeah rocks from the beach are good- i've got loads in my tanks and you get a much better selection than at your lfs and for free
The only other advice i'd give thats not already mentioned is that limestone and sandstone rocks can be a bit of an issue because they can change the ph of the tank; there are some exceptions but it mainly depends on how fossilized/old the rock is- if it crumbles or bits of sand/dust comes of it then its bad.

 

[guppy_man]

thanx tokis

 

[jflowers]

limestone/sandstone rocks will fail the vinegar test.

Jon

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I dunno about that cos i've i got a realy ancient peice of sandstone rock that i used to have in my main tank for ages and it didn't fail the vinegar test...

 

[jflowers]

I dunno about that cos i've i got a realy ancient peice of sandstone rock that i used to have in my main tank for ages and it didn't fail the vinegar test...

There may be exceptions, older stones may have been naturally 'cured', just saying that in general....

Jon