Wild Rocks?

[ArroWanaWhitey]

If you were to find a rock you liked outside and you cleaned it really well would it harm your fish when you put it in the aquarium?

 

[MHunt]

I would only put hard rocks like granite etc in the tank.

Anything porus like limestone or sandstone could leech harmful chemicals and change the water chemistry in the tank.

 

[SamUK]

they dont leach chemicals into the water but limestone can raise your PH and sandstone tends to breakdown in the water so its best to avoid them.


unless you keep african cichlids then limestone is the way to go.


heres a thread the wolf made that covers jus about every type of rock.


http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=55806

 

[raptorrex]

humm have we any chemists in the house? having talked to one, my dad, it would seem that most of the rocks stated as unsafe, are infact quite safe. on the whole all the rocks mentiond, do leach, and will raise and lower your ph and add things to your tank. but the fact is that most would be safe in any aquarium, the amounts of undesirable chemicals are quite small. sand stone is sited as unsafe for aquria, in this thread and the posted link. but even the linked post says infact that it can be used!!!!! the theory behind these rocks being unsafe is quite sound, its just that, as with many things, theory and real life practice often seem to contradict each other.
lol Shells are said to be unsafe in tropical aquaria. this is untrue. granted if you pound then in a strong current against rocks and other shells they will release their Calsium. but its not going to happen in your average tropical setup.
This is not to say that ALL rocks are safe!!!!!!! research is always well worth the effort.

 

[MHunt]

I'm not a chemist, but i do know that the change in the water chemistry, especially in the enclosed space of a tank, eg increase in pH and water hardness levels can be harmful to the fish unless they have adapted to survive like that in the wild.

Perhaps one way to be sure is to put the rock you would like to keep in the tank in some old tank water from a water change and test the water before and after over the space of about a week for example and see if there is any noticeable change.