Stones and pebbles that are safe for aquarium use.

One of my lace java fern has lost its hold on a piece of driftwood that's crowded with other lace java fern like I stated in an earlier post. So I decided to try to tie it to a stone. The good news is I have of a lot stones in my garden. The bad news is they are already painted so I decided not to risk it. Then I took a look again and realized that there are some that aren't painted too. But then, again, I've read that some garden rocks aren't safe for aquarium use so I'm here to ask if any of my stones can be used or not :

 

add vinegar or toilet cleaner (that blue stuff) and if it bubbles its not safe for the aquarium.

 

Good morning,

I would be hesitant to use the toilet bowl cleaner on rocks that I want to add to an aquarium. The vinegar test should suffice.









Links above may give you some tips.

I have moved your thread from Aquarium Plants to Aquairum Aquascaping section of the forum.

Ken

 

How do I differentiate the types of the rocks? e.g limestone and sandstone looks almost the same?

Thanks for the vinegar idea smee82, and thanks ken for the links.

P.S. mine is a pebble.

 

UPDATE : Okay, did a vinegar test but nothing happened and soaked it in hot water for a few seconds so I guess I'm ready to go!

 

Soak in hot water for an hour, rinse, add to a gallon of water, test in 24 hours. If everything looks good, add to tank.

I use nature rocks all the time.

 

I have nature rocks too, they look and work great, plus you can get really large ones for no cost at all. Holey rock can be so expensive X.X

 

Good heavens! You guys are right! I put the pebble in a cup of water with a pH of 7.2 for 24 hours, and after that I tested it again and it was 7.6!! Now what should I do?

 

If I'm not mistaken, your pH would have changed with or without the pebble because the water sat out for a while.

For curiosity sake (and to test my memory lol) test a cup of water without the pebble. Wait 24 hours and test again.

 

For curiosity sake (and to test my memory lol) test a cup of water without the pebble. Wait 24 hours and test again.

Awesome! Doing it now! (Btw, the cup of water isn't conditioned at all)

 

Hopefully someone else will comment about this.
I'm not real knowledgeable on pH changes.

It'll be interesting to see the results.

 

when I was testing my lava rock from outside I set a bucket of water, lava rock, some other rock, and playsand I would use. The water and rock both tested the same, and I believe the playsand went down...

 

If I'm not mistaken, your pH would have changed with or without the pebble because the water sat out for a while.

For curiosity sake (and to test my memory lol) test a cup of water without the pebble. Wait 24 hours and test again.

I *think* this depends on what dissolved gasses are in the fresh tapwater. I might be wrong. Anyway, double-checking the test is a good idea, since the rocks had already failed to fizz.

 

I'm using artificial vinegar to test lol I hope it doesn't matter... or does it?

 

not sure. I usually use toilet bowl cleaner to test 1 and throw it away and use the others after soaking them for at least 24 hrs. I only use vinegar if all the rocks are different and I have to test them all.

 

Wow, Lucy, I can't believe it but you're right! I left the cup of water (pH of 7.2) without the pebble for 24 hours and after that I tested it and it was 7.6! I know it's crazy but it's true!

Does this mean it is safe to use the pebble now?

 

is your water hard or soft? My water is hard which probably acts as a buffer to ph changes over time...

Yes its safe.

 

is your water hard or soft? My water is hard which probably acts as a buffer to ph changes over time...

Yes its safe.

You mean my tap water or my aquarium water?

How do you test water hardness anyway?

 

both? test them.

 

both? test them.

With test kits?

 

their is a gh and kh test, but usually you could find your water quality on a city water quality site.

 

their is a gh and kh test, but usually you could find your water quality on a city water quality site.

Ok, found out the hardness from the site, it's ranging from 0-500 mg/l.

By the way can I use sewing thread to tie my plant on the pebble?

 

yeah, but think rubber bands are easier.

Not sure about your hardness readings, but in any case its fine

 

Finally, mission accomplished! I tied a plant to the pebble and put it into my tank. It's amazing bcuz this is my first time tying a plant to a pebble. Thank you very much everyone!