# garden stones, silicone, etc



## sephnroth

hi guys,
i'm wanting to build a stone cave or 2 for my tank as i have a female betta who i believe likes to hide (she does in the plants atm sometimes) and im intending to get a bn plec next week from a friend who I also believe would appreiciate some sort of cave (have drift wood already)

Stones from store are so expensive so I started poking around my parents garden as my mother builds rockerys and stuff for her plants. They have lots of stones, some slate and other stuff and I was thinking I could build quite an elaborate cave with two seperated compartments and a seperate entrance for each, a stone roof which i could put a little gravel over and some plants/moss to make it look a bit like a raised shelf in the tank.

im wondering how I can tell if the rocks are ok for my aquarium? i dont want to lose any stock! i've heard of a vinegar test but dont know what it is? obviously i would boil any stone i want to use from the garden - but how long should i boil it for? plain water or add something to it whilst boiling?

Also if i actually want to construct something elaborate outside the tank and then place it in as one unit then i believe i can use silicone to join rock etc together like glue - but there are so many types of silicone i dont know what to use? my LFS sells emergency tank repair silicone for sealing breaches etc in aquariums.. will that do?

any advice appreciated, thanks


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## majerah1

The silicon you mentioned should work. 

The vinegar test, you put a few drops on the rock and look for it to sizzle. if it doesn't, its usually safe. If you have a ph test kit you can test it with that too. Place a couple drops of the test solution on the rock and watch for the color to change. If it doesn't, it wont affect the ph. Boiling is a great thing, just put the rock in tap water and boil it for a few minutes. Just enough to kill any nasties. 

FWIW, in my tanks I stack slate up then cover with sand to create caves for the fish tat way. I don't silicon it because if I am not happy with it I can easily change it around. Plus when hunting fish who enjoy hiding its easier to pull out rock by rock.


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## sephnroth

Thanks - just what i needed 

the reason i was thinking of buildng as a solid unit and then putting in is my lady betta seems quite temperamental! Shes lost a bit of her colour which i put down to me messin with tthe filter and adding dome new fish as well as some big water changes. Last night i gave her some.blood worm treats and id swear her colour was restoring almost right away xD

but i figure if i build this out of tank then it gives me something to do whilst letting everyone inside settle down a bit and i should be able to get it in quite quickly causing less stress for betta?


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## majerah1

Sure! If shes easily stressed it couldn't hurt. 

My tanks being set up for wilds though and having to hunt them down ( they blend in with nothing.) is the reason I do mine how I do.


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## sephnroth

I bottled out lol. I found some nice shaped and sized stone but im so petrified of accidently killing the fish im probably going to wait until i can afford to buy new rather something that has been sat outside for years 

i was testing everything with vinegar and the stones i liked didn't bubble but if they had green algae on one side then that would make vinger bubble but not clean bits of same stone so i got all confused and gave up!


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## Goby

sephnroth said:


> I bottled out lol. I found some nice shaped and sized stone but im so petrified of accidently killing the fish im probably going to wait until i can afford to buy new rather something that has been sat outside for years
> 
> I was testing everything with vinegar and the stones i liked didn't bubble but if they had green algae on one side then that would make vinger bubble but not clean bits of same stone so i got all confused and gave up!


Clean the rocks thoroughly before testing them with vinegar. If you boil them, be certain to do it outdoors and only after allowing them to dry out for several days. It's never safe to boil a rock indoors and it's never safe to put your face over a pot of boiling rocks. Rocks explode. Don't ever ever do that. Boil them outside on an old grill and allow them to completely cool before doing anything else with them. Never put hot rocks in cold water either. Always remember that rocks contain elements such as minerals, which are only stable at room temperature. Also, newly collected rocks will contain moisture on the inside. Trapped moisture + heat = combustion. 

Instead of boiling them, you could soak them in bleach water...I dunno...one part bleach to 5 parts water? To be honest, my measuring is sloppy. You could Google the recommended concentration if you want precision but I'm certain that if anything, a 1 to 5 ratio is overkill. Scrub them first with water. Then soak them in bleach water for several hours, rinse them well, and then soak them for 24 hours in freshwater that contains 2-3 times the normal amount of dechlorinator. Then rinse well again. Then do the vinegar test. If they don't bubble up, you're good to go. Rinse them lightly once more with dechlorinated water before putting them in the tank. Those rocks aren't going to hurt a thing. If you get worried, retest your parameters. And don't wear your good clothing when working with bleach!

My teenage son just did this very same project earlier this summer with some baby bullheads he caught and you know what? I saw him look into the pot of boiling water after I had JUST told him not to. Don't do that. I've dealt with combustive injuries both in a lab setting as a lay person, and also in the ER as a professional...they're ugly and they cost people their corneas.

As far as silicone goes the stuff in the pet store will work but it's likely overpriced. I get mine at Lowes and I buy the cheapest clear silicone that states 100% silicone...absolutely no additives. It doesn't need to say "aquarium safe"...just 100% silicone. 

And really...the rocks will be fine. Did I mention it's not safe to look into a pot of boiling rocks?


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## sephnroth

Now you've got me interested again!


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## Goby

sephnroth said:


> Now you've got me interested again!


good


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## sephnroth

well today i soaked the rocks and old aquarium deco that i wanted in a bleech solution as you suggested (not a 1 to 5 mix because i ran out of bleech! but as you said that would be overkill i guess thats fine xD) and then after 5-6 hrs or so i emptied the bucket they were in, rinsed them all under the tap and put back in the bucket and filled it with plain water and double dose of of dechlorinator.

after 2-3 hrs of being soaked in that i emptied again and rinsed again and laid them out on table. Everything seems to pass the vinegar test - though the aquarium ornament i found discarded in a garden doesnt BUBBLE but if i put my ear to it i swear i hear faint fizzing noise after vinegar...

but im still really dubious and unsure. i dunno what type of stone it is and i thought it might be sandstone which people said do NOT use, then i found a thread elsewhere (Why Can't Sandstone Be Used In The Aquarium? - Aquarium Aquascaping - 121282) which seems to suggest it can be if its proper sandstone.

my tank has been painfully stocked over many months, i have so little money and it would break my heart to lose all my stock (not just cuz of funds, i#ve grown attached to these guys!) so i want to be SO careful.

heres a pic thou:

http://sdrv.ms/1e6i5pz

the top two i dont want to use as they have such.. discolouration and stuff and i dont know what that is or why it wont scrub or bleech off. it doesnt fizz, but even so.

i wanted to use that decoration as its actual decent/weighty stone and perfect cave entrance! was going to lean the other two small bits of stone on and around it to create the cave. i did wonder if i could smash the top left stone and use it to build walls.

still scared thou...


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## Goby

Your flat garden rocks are more likely to contain sand than the artificial decor. My guess is that the artificial decor came out of a ceramic mold. The flat rocks appear to be flagstone or slate. Slate is inert and always aquarium safe. Flagstone is often called sandstone. It's a sedimentary rock that sometimes contains calcium and sometimes doesn't. If the rocks passed the vinegar test, you're good to go...they don't contain calcium. I understand your concern, however the staining would not worry me. I'd be more concerned if the flagstone bleached completely clean as that suggests it's been treated with a chemical to prevent discoloration. There's always the possibility that any sedimentary stone is going to contain silicates, in which case you might see an increase in diatom algae. I personally wouldn't worry about that in a FW aquarium...just keep an eye on things and if you notice a diatom increase, consider removing the cave...or not. I don't believe you'll have dissolved silicate issues...just an FYI. BTW, Oto catfish love diatoms.

I still think you should soak the stones in highly conditioned freshwater at least overnight...with a bubbler. 

That's going to be a very cool cave. Lucky fish.


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## Goby

FYI- calcium alters the pH of water...which is why you don't want it in your rocks. So it wouldn't hurt to recheck the pH after a day and then again in a few. I'm only adding this suggestion because I sense your apprehension...rechecking pH will ease your mind. Don't get too worried about a slight and steady change in pH.

Some aquarists purposely add calcium-rich rock to their aquarium, to increase the pH. Keep in mind that there are many combinations of flagstone...some are considered a type of sandstone which may or may not contain calcium. That's why the vinegar test is recommended.


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## sephnroth

Wellll... Something went a bit wrong . All stones passed vinegar test and i followed suggestion and left them in a bucket of water with double the usual dechlorinator amount and a bubbler for just over 24hrs. The next day i followed advice from another thread and due to the aquascaping i was planning to do i filled bucket with tank water and moved fish to it temporarily. 

then after removing all the plants i built my caves and replanted my plants in new locations (so difficult, couldn't see what i was doing and i was kicking up alot of mess from gravel!) and after i moved fish back.

that night one of my harlequins started swimming upside down and later died. I thought maybe i kicked up too much junk from substrate but ammonia test read between 0.0 and 0.25 (not quite just yellow, but not as green as .25) and nitrates 0 (seems normal with all the plants that suck it up and the fact i had just done 50% water change)

i put it down to stress. 

this morning things looked more normal. Now its after 1pm and im at work and i text flat mate to chrck the fish and she reports another harlequin is on its back and one of my beloved panda corys is completely dead (poked with net to see if just asleep, but dead) and i just don't know why 

after work will get liquid ph tester. I can change the water again, do a big 75% change maybe. I can vacume the gravel (which i tend to avoid after reading here that it hurts good bacteria, but there was alot of mess in it!) as the corys are bottom dwellers.

don't know what went wrong or what else i can do


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## Goby

It's likely that when you significantly disturbed the gravel, that gobs of detritus entered the water column and caused a brief toxic ammonia spike. That ammonia temporarily depleted the water's dissolved oxygen content. Soon the beneficial bacteria consumed some of the ammonia, but not all of it, which is why your ammonia test was positive (near 0.25). Even with a 50% water change, the ammonia levels may have been too high, for too long, for the more sensitive fish. In my experience, rasbora's are on the sensitive side..they absolutely do not handle stress well. They become nervous wrecks. And Cory Cats don't like bad water...but at the same time, they also don't like sudden large exchanges of good water for bad. I know that's confusing as he|. Also, Cory's do not appreciate physical changes in their environment...initially that is.

This really sux. I'm so sorry...you tried so hard to do everything perfect. You deserved better than this.

Regarding the pH...test it, but think long and hard before you mess with it. Both rasbora's and panda's appreciate, (not require) a pH on the lower side, and the lower the pH, the less toxic ammonia is. Don't quote me on this, but I believe every one point of increase in the pH = 10 times the ammonia toxicity. I can't remember the exact equation or expressions but it goes something like that. It's significant.

The ammonia spike has likely corrected itself by now but you may still have some struggling fish...not sure if the ammonia was up long enough to do any gill damage...probably not. But still, the fish are stressed thus requiring additional oxygen. So either say, you should keep the water moving briskly at the top of the tank. Oxygen enters the water at the top and the water at the top needs to be moving to allow the oxygen in. One way to increase movement at the top is to lower the water level an inch or so...just enough to increase the splash of return water from the filter. And for now, keep the lid open. Also, what's the temp? Not too high...the higher the temp the less ability the water has to hold oxygen. Depending on your stock, mid 70's is usually high enough. Consider opening a window and operating a fan. Freshening the air in the room will enrich the atmosphere with oxygen which will increase proper gas exchange at the water's surface. All the above is important 1st aid 'need to know' stuff for aquarists.

Beyond that, I don't know what else to tell ya. Do you have an ammonia binding agent at home? Such as Prime? If so, use it according to the label. Even if the ammonia is gone Prime will also neutralize the nitrites that are sure to follow.

Keep me posted please. I feel awful. What country are you from?


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## sephnroth

Goby, just want to say i don't want you to feel bad for anything you suggested i think it was all great and really appreciate your advice and put this down to just rotten luck! 

ive just finished work and will go straight to lfs to get ph test kit and maybe a new tank light (unrelated). My water temp is kept at 27-28c as a betta lives in the tank too. I do not intend to modify the ph of the tank, i just want something more reliable than strips to show that my rocks havnt pushed it to crazy levels for some weird reason!

i will be resisting the urge at lfs to replace the stock until i know tank is settled and safe, will keep you up to date

edit: ps, I'm from england


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## Goby

Your plan for tonight sounds good. Please keep me updated.


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## sephnroth

Well ive tested ph. The colour chart only goes up to 7.6 (blue) and i reckon the blue is a little darker than it so maybe bit higher than 7.6. But then i tested ph in my healthy cold water tank and it was exact the same so stones havnt raised ph.

two remaining panda corys fine and grazing on the gravel substrate. Bn plec happy as pir currently sucking on an airline. Betta and pearl gourami seem happy and are swimming around. Just fed the tank, betta and gourami ate it all, the remaining harlequins didn't even look at it . And within past ten mins one of my remaining four just fell onto its back and is unable to swim :/ all of them swimming with tails slightly higher than head.

ammonia still less than .25 and nitrates under 5.

should i do a water change? Could do 25%. Could vacumr the gravel at same time which ive never done cuz of "good bacteria in the gravel" but aquarist friend of mine just told me he always cleans his as best or bacteria in filter.

i also have a carbon filter pad i could add, just for a week to be safe?


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## sephnroth

Ive lowered the water to below the return of the filter so its now causing a big old splash. Ive opened room windows, turned on a fan and left tank lid open. The harlequin that rolled over is currently at the surface and gulping at the top for air, but i don't get it! Liquid tests say no ammonia or nitrates, nothing damaging!


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## Goby

sephnroth said:


> Ive lowered the water to below the return of the filter so its now causing a big old splash. Ive opened room windows, turned on a fan and left tank lid open. The harlequin that rolled over is currently at the surface and gulping at the top for air, but i don't get it! Liquid tests say no ammonia or nitrates, nothing damaging!


The dissolved oxygen was depleted...that's what ammonia does. Ammonia is transient, it goes as quickly as it arrives in an established tank. What you're doing now will fix things fairly quickly. Do you have another aerator you can put in there?


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## Goby

sephnroth said:


> Well ive tested ph. The colour chart only goes up to 7.6 (blue) and i reckon the blue is a little darker than it so maybe bit higher than 7.6. But then i tested ph in my healthy cold water tank and it was exact the same so stones havnt raised ph.
> 
> two remaining panda corys fine and grazing on the gravel substrate. Bn plec happy as pir currently sucking on an airline. Betta and pearl gourami seem happy and are swimming around. Just fed the tank, betta and gourami ate it all, the remaining harlequins didn't even look at it . And within past ten mins one of my remaining four just fell onto its back and is unable to swim :/ all of them swimming with tails slightly higher than head.
> 
> ammonia still less than .25 and nitrates under 5.
> 
> should i do a water change? Could do 25%. Could vacumr the gravel at same time which ive never done cuz of "good bacteria in the gravel" but aquarist friend of mine just told me he always cleans his as best or bacteria in filter.
> 
> i also have a carbon filter pad i could add, just for a week to be safe?


In my opinion efforts to increase dissolved oxygen is all that's needed. A water change will merely cause more undue stress and tap water isn't usually oxygen-rich anyway cuz it hasn't been exposed to the atmosphere. That's why it's always a good idea to season your conditioned water overnight with a bubbler. Also, many common dechlorinators actually create free ammonia...I have no idea why that stuff is still on the market. Normally the beneficial bacteria can quickly consume those ammonia ions before any damage is done but when there is already a large number of existing ammonia ions, the bacteria can't keep up.

The fish that's gasping at the top of the tank may have some gill damage...likely temporary. Are his gills red? Flared? That damage thus inflammation is making it difficult for him to get oxygen into his bloodstream, so his breathing is rapid and he is hanging out at the top of the tank where oxygen is most concentrated. Similar to COPD in people, only COPD is in the bronchial tubes. Also, ammonia is produced inside the bodies of all living creatures. It's a waste product that we normally excrete via urine, aka- urea. However when blood oxygen levels are low, kidney function slows and poisonous waste products aren't removed from the bloodstream as efficiently. It's a circle. It works the same way with people. Your fish is in acute renal failure and needs dialysis. 

For whatever reason, the other fish weren't effected. Who knows why. You're super lucky...them too.

The gasping fish may recover quickly. If his gills aren't damaged too much, he'll make a full recovery. If they're severely damaged, scar tissue may form which will forever reduce the surface area for gas exchange. He'll basically have emphysema. He'll require pristine water and be at higher risk for disease which will put the entire tank at higher risk.

Are you writing all this down? :fish9:


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## sephnroth

Learning lots! Just want my fish to be ok


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## Goby

Another thing...a pH of 7.6 is fine. Don't change that. It's almost always best to acclimate your fish to whatever the pH is straight out of your tap. But remember what I said about ammonia being 10 times more toxic at a pH of 7 versus 6? (or something like that). Here's why...if you remember from chem class...ammonia can dissolve in water. Not all elements can. To dissolve, means it's ions separate and become free from each other. Ammonia is written as NH3. When water has a lower pH it's acidic, which means there are a lot of extra hydrogen ions floating around looking for somewhere to go. This allows NH3 to become NH4. NH4 is ammoniUM...which isn't toxic like ammoniA. Vice versa, when water is alkaline, meaning it has a higher pH, that same neutralizing chemical reaction can't happen because the hydrogen ions aren't available. So the ammonia remains full strength until the beneficial bacteria can consume it. 

Someone recently informed me that they didn't care about the science of it, they just wanted to know whether or not they could pour the stuff into their tank. They said this, even after they had already crashed their system by carelessly pouring some other stuff into it. Well, it doesn't work like that. Aquariums are a science. Everything we pour into them causes a chemical reaction. Water, is a chemical. Success in this hobby is increased significantly when one makes a commitment to understanding the laws of chemistry that ARE aquaria. 

Okay, I'm done. lol

I need a beer.


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## Goby

sephnroth said:


> Learning lots! Just want my fish to be ok


Is he still gasping at the top? How many fish are there and how big is tank? And how'd the cave turn out anyway?


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## sephnroth

Checked tank before work and the harle had not made it and another harle joined him  the remaining two harlequins SEEM fine albeit a little lonely. But they are not rapidly breathing or anything. All other fish are fine and alive.

its a 96 liter tank. After casualties the remaining stock is: 2 harlequins, 2 panda corys, 1 bristlenose plec, 1 female betta splendens and 1 female pearl gourami. 

i have to go to lfs tonight to give flatmate a lift as shes applying for a job  if, after work, the remaining fish are all fine and happy then ill take a jar of tank water to lfs and get them to run every test they can do on it. If they say its all fine then i guess ill restock the harlequins and pandas whilst im there


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## sephnroth

Will post tank pictures of caves etc when on break


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## sephnroth

lunch break!

full shot of tank: http://sdrv.ms/1elHxYu
the left side cave: http://sdrv.ms/1e5D4rR
the right side cave (with bn plec!): http://sdrv.ms/13QtOSG

the darker gray stones came from the local pet store. They were washed by hand and then joined my cream garden rocks in that bucket for the 26hr soak with decholorinator with a bubbler.

I will apply some black vinyl background to the back of the tank tonight hopefully


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## Goby

Everything looks very nice...really something to be proud of. I'm sorry some of your fish died. I had a dream about you and your fish the other night. How weird is that? Except you weren't in it...I know that doesn't make sense but not much about me does so don't question it. :fish9: 

What did the LFS say about you buy water? And did you buy any new stock? I didn't see the fish decor/front door on the cave. Did you decide not to use it?


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## sephnroth

Yeah i have lots of stone and the entrance decoration left over. Originally i was going to do a big cave taking up an entire corner of tank with two entrances using the deco and maybe seperating compartments with a rock inside the cave and then one giant flat roof which i was going to gravel over the top and plant so it was like a raised shelf!

but i decided my tank was too small for such a thing and made two smaller caves instead 

i went to two different stores and vboth said my water was fine, no problem. So i restocked yesterday and brought my tank upto max stock for the filter i have.

that's 8 harlequins, 5 panda corys, 1bn plec, 1 female betta and 1 female pearl/lace gourami.

its only 80% stock for tank size according to aqadvisor but 100% dead on filtration capacity xD

this morning all the fish were alive and happy.

more pics later if you like


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## sephnroth

as promised, extra photos of it finished. all fishies in, all happy and a black background applied to tank - really happy with the result 

http://sdrv.ms/17yX6G0
<iframe src="https://skydrive.live.com/embed?cid=DC89528214610020&resid=DC89528214610020%21723&authkey=ADUjTed1xHAKzew" width="320" height="180" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>

and a video 
<iframe src="https://skydrive.live.com/embed?cid=DC89528214610020&resid=DC89528214610020%21724&authkey=ACCUgbGj-jRP6OA" width="320" height="180" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>


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## Goby

Wow, you did a fantastic job scaping your tank. Lucky fish. Thanks so much for sharing that pic and video! Have you had any more loses?


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## sephnroth

For no apparent reason late last night one of my pandas just keeled over and died :/ i had put some cucumber in for the plec but that was it! All the others are fine, no signs of stress or anything. I'm wondering if it was the last surviving one from original 3 and had just been hanging in there but it eventually caught up with him.. Will keep eye on the others


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## Chang Cindy

It will be ok to use the stone


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## Goby

sephnroth said:


> For no apparent reason late last night one of my pandas just keeled over and died :/ i had put some cucumber in for the plec but that was it! All the others are fine, no signs of stress or anything. I'm wondering if it was the last surviving one from original 3 and had just been hanging in there but it eventually caught up with him.. Will keep eye on the others


(


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## joecrouse

If I might suggest... I saw it mentioned on a blog as a cheap "caving material" Terracotta pots or even glazed china. 

Teracotta is chemically neutral. CHEAP! comes in zillions of shapes and some pots have a hole in the bottom that lets a fish swim in and out. If you cut a pot along a chord of its circumference you can easily make "caves" for just about any size fish up to really gigantic (if you can find terracotta pipe bits used for storm drains. (grow your plants on a Chia head... (-= )

China as in glazed pottery might be even better because glaze is Glass. Designed to be as chemically non reactive as it gets... Get a couple a cheap coffee cups grind out the bottom with a Dremmel and round the edges so the fishies don't get cut...


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## vreugy

Would like to add,,When I add new water to my tanks, I fill a pitcher with water from my tap, but I use the sprayer to fill it. It really agitates the water, adding lots of oxygen. Good for emergency oxygen replacement.

have a blessed day


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## joecrouse

FWIW...

Have you considered going out to your local river stream or other body of water that has a rocky bottom (most of the ones local to me have something of the sort) and picking out rocks out of the natural environment. You can also find some decent pieces of Drift wood this way as well.

I went out a month ago got a bunch of nice slate pieces some big rounded white Quartz chunks. I Found a piece of limestone with a nice crystalline structure on top. Its currently sitting in my 29 gallon tank now as a buffer. 

Last month I got some really nice drift wood. A big chunk that came out of the bay That I went and boiled for about 5 hours and soaked for a few weeks

Monday I went out and hiked along the Susquehanna and picked up some nice small pieces of drift wood. Those I am boiling and soaking as I can at home.

Yesterday I went out and found some REALLY nice Rose Quartz, Pink and White and found a piece with a bit of Gold in it (-; (not pyrite real gold 24k) 

Rounded and tumbled river stones of varying components are basically free if you don't mind getting your feet wet and know where to look. You can also find some nice Snails and or crayfish too. As a bonus if its Hot... exploring said stream by way of an inner tube and rope towing a 2nd inner tube holding a beer cooler... well that's just hillbilly heaven, Double bonus if there are fish that can be eaten in the river. Depending on the makeup of the river Hip Waders may or may not be useful if its full of trash and idiots that throw beer bottles n such they may in fact be required. Good rule of thumb if its got snails and frogs its pretty clean pollution wise.

I boiled the rocks I got in EXTREMELY Saline water and Vinegar. Then boiled them in clean water after giving them a solid once over with a brass scrub brush. 

BEWARE WHEN BOILING ROCKS! THEY CAN GO KABOOM! If I hear about you doing this without wearing safety goggles at a minimum I WILL Track you down duct tape you to a chair and make you watch the video of Johns Hopkins stitching my eye back together. I'm not Kidding seriously PUT ON YOUR F'ING SAFETY GLASSES WHEN DEALING WITH STUFF THAT GOES BOOM!


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## rtmaston

what about some wood I might fine on the ground can that be used in my tank?thanks


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## Fishtail76

I used both rocks and wood that I found near a local river. I just rinsed them, used a scrub brush and rinsed again. My tanks been up and running for almost 2 months, no problems, everything seems to be very stable.


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## joecrouse

rtmaston said:


> what about some wood I might fine on the ground can that be used in my tank?thanks


While I assume you could... I wouldn't

1 its going to look all wrong its got bark on it and stuff..
2 Its going to leach tannins from the bark and turn your water cloudy. no to mention any thing else on the branch.
3 you never know what you are introducing just sticking a random chunk of wood in the tank
4 Unless it is really spongy (punky otherwise known as rotted) its going to be dry and will float in the tank.


With scavenged drift wood Its already going to be weathered to look like it belongs in the tank. All the pores in the wood will have already been opened hopefully letting out most of the tannins. Boiling it will sterilize it and will release a LOT more of the tannins. (which can be saved to make tannin Tea useable to slowly bring down the PH of your water or ya know you could use it to make leather. Boiling it will also open the pores in the wood and when it dries that will allow it to soak up tank water getting it to sink properly into your substrate allowing some kind of semi artistic placement.


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