Finally decided... your opinions please

[JuiceBox52]

Just to be safe I would boil the river rock. Pollution and small critters my be living In the rock. Better to be safe than buy fish and have them die. Cardinal tetras are a bit more forgiving than neons. With their long fins Bettas have a problem with other fish nipping at them. I've kept them in a community tank. They don't last very long. Even with calm community fish. Cycle the tank. Buy some bacteria from the fish store. Make cycling easier and faster. Don't forget to put some fish food in the tank for the bacteria to feed on. Please don't fish cycle. Test your water everyday. Attach the Anubia to a piece of wood. Crazy glue is good for that.

Boiling rocks can cause them to explode. I wouldn't recommend this

 

[Byron]

Boiling rocks can cause them to explode. I wouldn't recommend this

Someone is bound to pounce on this, lol. I always say the same because I have read it from more than a few reliable sources on fish/aquaria. It may be that boiling on the stove might not reach a temperature sufficient to actually cause the rock to explode, as some will point out. But I still would never do it. I give river rock (purchased from a landscape supply place, having been collected from rivers somewhere) a good scrub under the hot water tap. I do not know what pathogeens would still get through this, few if any I suspect.

 

[JuiceBox52]

I always pour boiling water over the surface to kill anything on the outside

 

[EllRog]

I always pour boiling water over the surface to kill anything on the outside

I throw it in a bucket of kettle boiled water and leave it in the garden until its cooled down, then scrub the life out of it with warm water afterwards lol. I would rather not blow a rock up. Imagine the grave stone "Killed by cleaning a rock" no ta

 

[Shiverz]

Well I washed my rocks first with warm water and a nail scourer to agitate most of the hard engrained dirt. Then I put them in a pan threw boiling water over them let it cool and again scrubbed with a scourer. after they had all cooled down I repeated this process, then put them in a pain to boil them. after a few minutes on a low light I noticed air bubbles coming from inside the rock, I immediately turned the heat off and placed the pan with rocks in outside, I didn't want that air pocket to heat up and go boom.

Though after everything I did, I'm not even sure I should be using the rocks, they have a black sedament on them which is fused with the rock, the only way to get it off is to use a chisel. I've tested all with vinegar non reacted by fizzing, I'm still awaiting my Master kit in the post, I'm now in the mind frame to sack the rocks I've got and just buy some from the local hardware store/LFS for safety's sake.