Id These Rocks.

[Damsel_in_Distress]

hey guys, havent been on for a fiew months, but i need help concerning these rocks:





what kind of rocks are these?
I found them around my yard, dissenfected them to the extream (to be safe) and rinsed them all for i dont know how long, but are they safe? they look a little like a mix of granite and slate, but, i dont know much about rocks.

thanks for any help

 

[joejoehead]

hey guys, havent been on for a fiew months, but i need help concerning these rocks:





what kind of rocks are these?
I found them around my yard, dissenfected them to the extream (to be safe) and rinsed them all for i dont know how long, but are they safe? they look a little like a mix of granite and slate, but, i dont know much about rocks.

thanks for any help

i would not put them in my tank..

 

[Damsel_in_Distress]

why not? they look fine to me. very smooth, and not sharp at all too.

 

[Biulu]

why not? they look fine to me. very smooth, and not sharp at all too.

The most important thing is that your stones don't contain any limestone, since this will seriously affect the pH and hardness of your water. Most freshwater aquarium fish don't like that.

You can check it by pouring a little bit of hydrochlorid acid over your rock. If it contains lime stone, it will fizz and produce carbon dioxide and water; You will see bubbles on the surface of your rock.

 

[Damsel_in_Distress]

actually, dont i need limestone? im making a lake malawi tank, which i understand the PH is around 7.5-8.0

 

[Biulu]

hey guys, havent been on for a fiew months, but i need help concerning these rocks:





what kind of rocks are these?
I found them around my yard, dissenfected them to the extream (to be safe) and rinsed them all for i dont know how long, but are they safe? they look a little like a mix of granite and slate, but, i dont know much about rocks.

thanks for any help

Sorry, forgot that you want them for a Malawi chchlid tank. Water hardness is not an issue then; on the contrary, you may want to increase your water hardness for these species! Just check the hardness of your tap water.....

 

[Damsel_in_Distress]

I ended up putting them all in, except the gray flattish ones, which dont look very natural, in a nice stacked arrangement. about 2 3rds to the top of the tank. (its a 29 tall) i know, not exactly the best size tank for malawi's, but im only adding a fiew. maybe like, 4 or 5 yellow labs. (this is fine right?) i'll post some pictures later, and maybe move the topic to the old world cichlids forums? anyway, if anybody else has any objections, PLEASE say, because then i'll have time to take the rocks out and restart before the weekend, in which im going to start adding fishes. thanks!

 

[Torrean]

I thought the ideal setup for malawi was to overstock to help spread out the aggression. More experienced members correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Damsel_in_Distress]

yes, but isent 5 enough to spread out the aggresion? i plan on yellow labs, which are pretty docile. if i need more than that, then i'll only get a pair of labs, and other mbuna. anybody here to help?

 

[eschaton]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but some of those rocks look a bit rusty, and I believe metal leeching into the water can be an issue.

 

[Damsel_in_Distress]

......rusty?

 

[SamUK]

it looks like limestone to me. well it looks like the stuff i had.

actually, looking closer, the three black rocks to the right arent. im no expert tho, try find the wolfs rock thread.


if the tank is 3ft then youll probably get away with keeping a few labs in there.


still have to keep an eye out and id probably get 1 male and 3 females or something but be prepared for fry.

 

[strange_screams]

might have limestone in them if your in america, but that doesnt matter, your best bet is to do a search about whats ussually located in your area naturally.

such as I search for natural rocks east texas I get:
http/www.csdl.tamu.edu/FLORA/NAV-OUTCROP/OUTCROPINTRO.HTML

which tells me we have a lot of clay like rocks, limestoney sand stone mostly

sand stone will melt a little faster then limestone will, so they would be safe for my cichlid's tank but i need to replace them in a few years

 

[SamUK]

might have limestone in them if your in america, but that doesnt matter, your best bet is to do a search about whats ussually located in your area naturally.

limestone isnt jus found in america.


and i think the word your looking for is erode. not melt lol.

 

[kpintheshed]

maybe u should go to a fish shop and asked them they seem to know these things probely because they buy them

worth a try