lyndatu

Sorry for my endless asking of questions

I collected a few ocean rocks from the beach, the ones that came from coral reefs then washed away to the shore. I cleaned them, dried them under the sun, and I was wondering if I can place them in my 20 gallon freshwater aquarium for where the fish would hide. Can I? Or is it harmful? Thanks in advance.

sirdarksol

They could potentially be harmful.
One thing you can do is put some vinegar on the rock. If it fizzes or foams, the rock is likely to raise the pH of your aquarium water.
This won't, however, test whether or not there is anything else harmful in the rock.
Putting anything from nature into your tank is a risk. Some are willing to take that risk, others aren't.

Peterpiper

The rocks from the ocean should not be used as it may leach salt into your tank along with bacteria. you maybe able to wash it, soak it and boil it.
But you may still harm the tank, is it worth the risk?

lyndatu

Wow! You all saved my tank! My fish and I owe you our lives! Thanks for the reply, for I was about to put them in my tank!

I'm not going to get anything from nature again! I'm not taking the risk!

Isabella

I agree with the above comments. Rocks from the sea/ocean are most likely going to cointain salt and they're probably calcerous (meaning they contain a lot of calcium and will increase your pH). But as always, you can test the rocks (1) with vinegar, and then (2) simply soak them for one day, two days, a week, etc ... and see if during that time they will affect the water in which they're being tested. I'd also boil any rock from the outside, be it a "freshwater rock" or a "saltwater rock". I boiled the rocks that I've collected from a river. If you ever boil any rocks, don't take them out of the pot immediately after boiling because they can explode! Wait until the water cools off, then take them out.

The things taken from nature don't have to be dangerous if: (1) you're sure they're not contaminated with anything/any dangerous toxins (due to today's high level of pollution of the environment); (2) you know what kinds of things are suitable for your tank (ex. calcerous rocks from salty waters are not suitable for freshwater tanks); and (3) if you take proper steps to disinfect and prepare them for tank use.

In fact, nothing is healthier and better than nature. It's the descruction of the environment today that makes the things collected from the nature dangerous (i.e. they can contain toxins accumulated in them from hazardous human activities). One's inexperience with freshwater vs. saltwater tanks can aslo pose problems, as one may be choosing the wrong types of objects suitable for one's tanks (ex. placing calcerous rocks in freshwater tanks). And as mentioned above, lack of proper steps to prepare/disinfect objects from the outside may leave these objects with various potentially dangerous micro-organisms in them.

COBettaCouple

well, you care enough about your tank to ask questions.

i think the problem with introducing nature-items to a tank mainly comes down to the things out in nature are in a huge open system whereas a tank is a small closed system.

Isabella

Very good point Dave

COBettaCouple

you're not talking about the top of my head, right?

sirdarksol

What Isabella and Dave said about natural objects is pretty much the reason I posted the way I did, I was just too lazy to type anything more out.
Such stuff can be the best addition to your tank, or they might have come from near the waste-outflow of an unscrupulous company's production plant.

Dino

Calcerous rocks CAN be used in freshwater tanks.

They are actually NEEDED if you plan on keeping Rift Lake Cichlids or Central American Cichlids and have soft water.

A friend of mine lives in Colorado Springs and all his water is snow melt.
To have any type of buffering capacity, he keeps shells, crushed coral and calcerous rocks in his tanks.

As well stated above, be very careful of anything you collect in the wild and place in your tank.

Isabella

Dino is right, and he has much more experience than I, so you should listen to him. Though I didn't have African Cichlids in mind when speaking about calcerous rocks. I assumed we were talking about regular freshwater tanks. African Cichlids do ineed need harder water, which can be attained through calcerous rocks and gravels if your tap pH is too low for such a tank. The reason I assumed we weren't talking about African Cichlids is that most beginners don't start with these fish.

Dino

I wish that was ture.
Saddly, I see a lot of folks start with Rift Cichlids, as they are the most vibrantly colored of the fresh water fish.

If I had a dime for all the yellow lab questions I have seen from beginners, I would be a lot closer to retirement.

sirdarksol

If I had a dime for every time someone started a sentence with "If I had a dime", I'd have about tree-fiddy. (I really hope I'm not the only one who watches the old South Parks, or that joke was just wasted on you all)

Butterfly

Nope not wasted
carol

Dino

Actually, with gas prices going up, I better raise it to a dollar.

COBettaCouple

for now..

Isabella

That's interesting. I actually don't know anyone who keeps African Cichlids. And my LFS rarely has any African Cichlids. All the people I know who have fish, have the regular freshwater fishies like Tetras, Gouramis, Angels, and the like. That's why I assume most beginners don't start with African Cichlids, which - in my opinion - are more difficult to maintain than, say, most Tetras (just my opinion, of course ).