Stones

Dogdaymonday · Jun 12, 2008

Hi!
I,m sort of a newbie!
Can I collect pebbles and stones from the seaside and use them in my tropical fish tank?
Regards.

guppy_man · Jun 12, 2008

What you can do is test them before you put them in your tank. By test i mean use a special liquid called vinegar :hyper:

Just get normal vinegar and put some onto the rocks, if the vinegar starts to fizz then you can't use them, if it doesn't fizz you can, but i'd boil and scrub them before hand :good:

Dogdaymonday · Jun 12, 2008

Dogdaymonday said:
Hi!
I,m sort of a newbie!
Can I collect pebbles and stones from the seaside and use them in my tropical fish tank?
Regards.

Thats great! Many thanks for that!

Athena · Jun 12, 2008

Just wanted to add a quick note - not sure in which country you live but in the UK a lot of the coastal beaches are protected by council bye-laws that forbid the removal of any pebbles from the beach. If caught you can get fined thousands. Sounds ridiculous, I know, but sadly true! Most kids love to collect pebbles from the beach, don't they?

Best to check before you go pebble-picking, unless you know for sure there are no such laws where you live.

Regards - Athena

Dogdaymonday · Jun 12, 2008

Athena said:
Just wanted to add a quick note - not sure in which country you live but in the UK a lot of the coastal beaches are protected by council bye-laws that forbid the removal of any pebbles from the beach. If caught you can get fined thousands. Sounds ridiculous, I know, but sadly true! Most kids love to collect pebbles from the beach, don't they?

Best to check before you go pebble-picking, unless you know for sure there are no such laws where you live.

Regards - Athena

Thanks for that Athena, I do know that it is illegal in some counties in this country, Buuuuut, I am pretty quick on my feet!
Regards,
Dogdaymonday.

george4 · Jun 12, 2008

haha the stones might slow you down tho lol

Carp4U · Jun 12, 2008

hi there,

in my tank i have some large pebbles which i took from a beach and it looks really effective!

make sure though you put them in a bucket with unchlorinated water (just get a bucket full of water from your outside tap and add some aquasafe if you have any, if not it should be ok!) and give them a good rinse until they are smooth and very clean so no dirt or sand is on them. Also, follow the tip above by adding them into vinegar first, then washing them. PM me if you're unsure.

shortymet55 · Jun 12, 2008

Is it accurate that if a rock/stone passes the vinegar test, that it is good to go? Any adverse affects that could come of the rock other than calcium, dirt/stuff that can be washed off?

italktomyfish · Aug 4, 2008

I 'relocated' some rocks from a nameless beach in Uk which is famous for it's fossils (spent a great day hitting stuff with hammers). Didn't even have a tank then, but when I moved house recently I removed the bogwood from my tank as I was impatient and not too keen on the brown water. Put in some gravel and larger rocks for structure, and my rediscovered fossils and slate with bits of gold in them. Looks ace! And the fish are happy too. Always funny watching my clown loach nosing around in the gravel. Did give them a VERY thorough soak and scrub first tho.

tenohfive · Aug 4, 2008

For the vinegar test, use white vinegar - not the normal stuff.

And read this:

http

/www.fishforums.net/content/Tropical...n-The-Aquarium/

Honeythorn · Aug 5, 2008

I find that once the vinegar test is done and the rocks are ok, I put them in a bucket ( or jug if they're small) and repeatedly pour boiling water over them until they are submerged. Then I leave them for half an hour and pour the water out. Then I scrub them with hot water ( as hot as I can stand it in gloves anyway ) and a scrubbing brush that I keep only for that purpose.

tenohfive · Aug 5, 2008

Whatever you do, if you wash them with boiling water - make sure you don't pour cold over them afterwards - the rocks could crack, shatter (or possibly) explode.

Ian H · Aug 5, 2008

what ever you do, don't boil them!!

theres a high risk of the exploding

Honeythorn · Aug 5, 2008

I don't put them in a pan and boil them! haha, I just boil the kettle and when it's done I pour the water around and over the rocks. I don't pour cold water on them afterwards though. I know the effects of that!

Although I am tempted to chill a bowl of water to almost freezing point, boil a small rock and chuck it in to see the effects

( I won't though )