Fish decor

Bruce Leyland-Jones said:

Some rock will dissolve in an aquarium and so affect the water's hardness. This can be detrimental to most fish (and beneficial to others).
The most basic test for rocks is to drop some vinegar on them and see if it bubbles. If it does, then it isn't suitable for your tank unless you're experienced and skilled enough to know xactly what you're doing.
Rocks that crumble should also be avoided, unless you'll be wanting bits of the rock appearing over the tank.

Other things to watch out for are sharp edges, (for obvious reasons) and any contamination in the form of metal ore.
Some quartz should be okay, but be aware that many may have ore deposits and some that appear to look like quartz may actually dissolve over time, (See the vinegar test above ).
Obviously, you'll be cleaning anything beforehand.

As a suggestion, get in your head exactly what sort of scheme you want and then get the rocks to fit it, rather than get the rock and then decide upon the scheme.

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Mathewking said:

Thanks mate, is any vinegar fine or should it be white?

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Bruce Leyland-Jones said:

Ooooh...I think some quality Modena Balsamic would be bestest!

Seriously, just basic white stuff. You're looking for a reaction on the stone to the acid.

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Mathewking said:

Hey guys I'm new to the forum, I'm located in Australia and have a start up/decor question, I went out today and got some rocks for my tank which I haven't set up yet. I think they're brown coal rocks, I noticed the smaller ones crumled easily so I got rid of them but the bigger ones seem sturdy I just wanted to know if they were safe to put into my tank, I also got some quartz which iv read will be fine to put in once I establish my tank. Any answers or feed back will be much appreciated.

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Bruce Leyland-Jones said:

Some rock will dissolve in an aquarium and so affect the water's hardness. This can be detrimental to most fish (and beneficial to others).
The most basic test for rocks is to drop some vinegar on them and see if it bubbles. If it does, then it isn't suitable for your tank unless you're experienced and skilled enough to know xactly what you're doing.
Rocks that crumble should also be avoided, unless you'll be wanting bits of the rock appearing over the tank.

Other things to watch out for are sharp edges, (for obvious reasons) and any contamination in the form of metal ore.
Some quartz should be okay, but be aware that many may have ore deposits and some that appear to look like quartz may actually dissolve over time, (See the vinegar test above ).
Obviously, you'll be cleaning anything beforehand.

As a suggestion, get in your head exactly what sort of scheme you want and then get the rocks to fit it, rather than get the rock and then decide upon the scheme.

Click to expand...