Tank decorations

[dixaisy930]

My neighbor has a lighthouse candle holder (never used), and was wondering if I wanted it for my tank. Our obvious concern is how do we know it'll be tank safe, since it's original purpose wasn't for a fish tank.

Same goes for rocks you find outside...how can you test them for tank friendliness?

 

[cutecotton]

i take rocks off hte beach, soak them in hot water, let them dry, soak htem in bleach, let the dry, rinse htem in water, let htem dr y, and then i put them in the tank takes quite a few days.

I dont' know if you can bleach the candl holders tho

 

[jeffrey]

i take rocks off hte beach, soak them in hot water, let them dry, soak htem in bleach, let the dry, rinse htem in water, let htem dr y, and then i put them in the tank takes quite a few days.

I dont' know if you can bleach the candl holders tho

I soak rocks and stuff in a chemical I got from work, if its alive this stuff will kill it, clean it and shine it up.
I put glass thing in it once, and it came out acid etched.

I gotta remember what its called. its very toxic, but water nuetralises it.



but what this guy said will work too

 

[dixaisy930]

Thanks for the info for the rocks...but what type of rocks effect pH, and hardiness?

And what about other decorations that aren't specifically made for tanks?

 

[cutecotton]

i also use regular flowerpots, didn't bleach them or anything, just watched them out thorough (no soap) andt hrew htem in the tank... nothing bad happened

 

[bartender_in_ny]

i collect shale + cranite from my creek bed, i never boiled the rocks or used bleach, i just scrub um good with hot water and a brush let um dry for a day and your all set, never had any problems and i have tonsssssssss of rocks i collected from the creek, but........if u want to make sure their INERT por a lil reg vinegar on them if they fizz dont use them and limestone and some corals raise your PH limestone is kinda gray + for example its the big gray rocks usualy construction crews use for bridge landscaping and soil support, also break wals sometimes at marinsa watch out for any light gray rocks, stick with the shale, its black and flat looks really nice in a tanke siliocone severl peices togther to make terraces and stuff, i also like to scatter diff size pebbles all over my substrate gives a cool effect like a real creek bed.....dont be afraid to pile up a FEW DIFFF size pebbles too, along with maybe a flat skipping stone laying acroos the top of the pebbles, good hiding spots + bed time spots...GOOD LUCK!!!!

NATURAL ROCKS RULE!!!!!

 

[leslie123]

Have you ever noticed ...

... how hard it is to make a natural-looking arrangement (particularlly a cave for khuli loaches and/or dwarf cichlids) by stacking rocks and/or bogwood together? You know, so it looks like it came together naturally, not manufactured? I can mess with it for ages, until finally I get exasperated and pull my "cave" apart and toss it to the other side of the tank to get it out of the way so I can start from scratch ... and voila, there on the "other" side of the tank is a perfectly natural looking cave.

'course, then I have to take it apart to "re-create" it on the correct side of the tank ... somehow, it never works.

Leslie