Rocks I find in the river

[diVer]

This summer I'm going to be collecting rocks from a nearby river to use in a 10 gallon I will be setting up later (30 gallon comes first ) Do I need to do anything to the rocks to make them safe for the aquarium? And if so what? I don't want to spend a fortune on fake rocks.

 

[Adrinal]

boil 20 min..
let cool (rocks retain their heat give it a good while).

 

[Punkfish]

Make sure the rocks won't affect your water chemistry (eg. limestone increases hardness) and check for veins of metal that may poison the fish.

 

[crimsontsavo]

Looks like you got your answer!
Don't let too many people see you collecting rocks. It might not be legal.

 

[Punkfish]

on't let too many people see you collecting rocks. It might not be legal.

If anyone has a problem with it you could always use a big heavy rock to 'persuade' them otherwise. Not that I'd ever condone violence, oh no not me hehehe

 

[diVer]

Thanks for the help.
I don't think anyone will mind me collecting rocks, but I'll remember not to make a big show of it.

 

[Woody]

Might not hurt to scrub them with a stiff brush and some hot water if the river contains any snails, etc. I once collected a few small snails from a small stream while hiking in Arizona, carried them home in a 35mm film canister and spent the next year fighting them as they rapidly reproduced. Even draining and scrubbing my tank and aggressively rinsing the gravel didn't help much -- within a few weeks, more baby snails would snow up. Very tenacious.

 

[diVer]

Actually a snail outburst would be very nice, and it would make my puffers very happy

 

[Adrinal]

I know that some bacteria can handle boiling water... but snail eggs???

Or... you didn't boil?

 

[Woody]

I know that some bacteria can handle boiling water... but snail eggs???

Or... you didn't boil?

If you're referring to my post Adrinal, no, I didn't subject the tank or gravel to that kind of heat. I scrubbed the tank with a stiff sponge, and washed the gravel with a pressure nozzle and lots of agitation, thinking the eggs that weren't blasted out would be ground up. Those little buggers came back at least three times (hard to remember; this was the mid-1980s). I should have expected them to be tough—they were surviving in a tiny stream in the desert.

Taught me a good lesson, though. It's not wise to pick up little critters and stick them in your aquarium before you know anything about them.

 

[Adrinal]

heheh ya. I remember my mom had a tank and was infested big time with snails. I learned my lesson and didn't even have to burn my self in the proccess

 

[JoKeR]

Im going to get some rocks from my local river and some driftwood and some plants I cant wait they got bunches of anacharis and hornwort and other kinds of plants Cant wait till it gets hot. Ohh and fishing

 

[iloveyou]

i wish i could steal something like plants or rocks from a river or something... here in vancouver b.c. . . . . theres nothing i can catch ... its not exactly ''tropical'' over here lol

 

[Aulonochromis]

i wish i could steal something like plants or rocks from a river or something... here in vancouver b.c. . . . . theres nothing i can catch ... its not exactly ''tropical'' over here lol

If you have the room you could get some bluegills. I've always wanted to set up a north american biotype tank with some nice blugills.

 

[Adrinal]

Dude I am so there! I would love that too. Bluegills sunfish perch.. If the tank was big enough perhaps a sm bass.

I think Sunfish would have some rocking colors under tank lights!
Only problem, ironically is temp. I could never keep it cool enough for them.. I would think 70 would be a max temp?
In Millwaukee they have had a nice tank for 30+ years and the fish are MONSTER size I think there are some smoking silver minnows up here too... Still sunfish now thats colour