Stuart86 Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 Just wondering what the best way to clean these rocks to mAke them aquarium safe? ie what cleaning chemical to use or not to use. I found them near a creek... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathobes Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 Just wondering what the best way to clean these rocks to mAke them aquarium safe? ie what cleaning chemical to use or not to use. I found them near a creek... I usually scrub the absolute crap out of them with a brush and hot water then boil them for about 20 mins. If I'm still sketchy I soak them in water for a week after that. Works for me. HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathobes Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 I think I should add that the boiling is important. Gets rid of Any parasites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart86 Posted July 4, 2010 Author Share Posted July 4, 2010 Awesome thanks mate! Stu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CThompson Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 depends on the type of rock, where it was sourced from, and what condition it was in (i.e. dirty, plant matter or clean looking). If it is clean looking, a wet scrub should be all they need if they are basalt or perhaps sandstone. The dirtier it is the more you will need to do. I've taken sandstone from my backyard, chiseled it to spit it, hosed it off and used it as all the faces were fresh. If it were really dirty, I'd probably not use it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noxious_nasties Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 If it's leaving a film on wherever it is being soaked than it has something attached to it that you don't want and would need more cleaning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart86 Posted July 4, 2010 Author Share Posted July 4, 2010 It looks like bassalt and not too dirty. Sounds like I'm in the clear then.. Thanks all Stu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noxious_nasties Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 Best thing with any rock is to soak it for a while and change the water its being soaked in too. That way anything that can't be seen (but is still dissolving in the water) is slowly removed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart86 Posted July 4, 2010 Author Share Posted July 4, 2010 Ok cool. I have them soaking at the moment. I'll scrub them this arvo then change the water. Stu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcloughlin2 Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 Just remember that soaking some types of rocks to remove chemicals is not really going to work. If the rock was ever in a situation where it absorbed chemicals it will leach these chemicals for years, not days or weeks which is how long most peole soak them for. Solution - ensure you collect from areas where there has been no pesticide or chemical use. If it was my rock I would wash the dirt off, place them in a bucket and run hot water from the shower over them for 5 minutes. Then throw them in the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CThompson Posted July 6, 2010 Share Posted July 6, 2010 Just remember that soaking some types of rocks to remove chemicals is not really going to work. If the rock was ever in a situation where it absorbed chemicals it will leach these chemicals for years, not days or weeks which is how long most peole soak them for. Solution - ensure you collect from areas where there has been no pesticide or chemical use. If it was my rock I would wash the dirt off, place them in a bucket and run hot water from the shower over them for 5 minutes. Then throw them in the tank. For example; basalt collected from a creek, the creek runs through farming country, the creek has phosphate run off from fertiliser, the basalt absorbs phosphates, put basalt in fish tank, the rock releases phosphates -fish tank has phosphate. It took me a while to work out where the phosphate in a tank, many years ago now, was coming from, but this was the route. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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