# can i use rocks from the beach in my tank?



## gone fishin (Mar 4, 2013)

i collected a bunch of these rocks that wash up on the beach, and was wondering if i can use them in my fresh water tanks? if so whats the proper way to clean them?


----------



## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

First test them with vinnegar to see if they bubble(if they do they're not safe).If they are safe rinsing in warm water would seem good enough to me as saltwater creatures,and bacteria can't live in freshwater.
I've used many rocks from Wells beach Maine in my freshwater tanks.
I would be most concerned with the spoted,speckeled,and ones that have shiny specs.The rest look like some real nice rocks.


----------



## hotwingz (Mar 3, 2013)

I have only paid for a couple rocks. Most of the rocks I have I found outside. All I did was put them in a pan and heated the water to near or at a slow boil for like an hour. Rinsed them off and did it again. I have yet to have any issues.


----------



## gone fishin (Mar 4, 2013)

how about drift wood from the beach?


----------



## hotwingz (Mar 3, 2013)

I know you can with certain woods, but I don't know about SW beach driftwood in a FW tank. I would think as long as it was soaked in FW for long enough it would be fine. Change the water a lot, and cook the wood a few times.


----------



## Sebastian (Dec 27, 2012)

I am a geologist and it is almost impossible for me to tell from pictures of well rounded rocks what they exactly are. As coral has pointed out check them with a mild acid for carbonates; 10% HCl (hydrochloric acid) works well for this. If they do bubble a lot this only means that they might slowly go into solution and raise your ph. For an East African rift lake tank this is actually not a bad thing! I would boil them to get rid of any surface contaminants.

The only thing i would really stay away from are so called 'lava rocks'; they have a rough surface with many bubbles and can give off heavy metals because of the increased surface area.


----------



## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

If the wood fits in a pot ,boil it for a while(maybe a few different times).If it will not fit in pot soak in your bath tub(clean tub of soaps and stuff) and bake it at 200-225 degrees for an hour or so.A safe way to "cook " wood is bring your oven to temp,then turn it off and place wood in it.This may be repeated several times to kill anything in the wood.


----------

