Beach Rocks?

[sin]

Hi!

Just bought a new (and huge) tank for my kiddies this weekend and was hunting around on the beach for rocks.

I've found some which i've brought home and just have a few questions regarding them, main one is how to clean them thoroughly and and the other is, will they affect the ph, etc?

 

[cake]

If they're limestones/ have lime on them, then yes they will affect the PH. As for cleaning them, usually giving them a good scrub with boiling water (and some people bake them in the oven which is probably best)is a good idea. You can buy large clean rocks from garden shops too.

 

[charles]

Depending on the rock type, baking them may crack them. I'd boil them in a pot for a while, and scrub thoroughly with a steel pot cleaner. I'm no expert though.

 

[sin]

well, i've boiled one with sucess, i'm not game to put them in the oven incase they explode, lol i don't need to explain that one to my landlord! "well, the darndest thing happened while i was cooking..."

 

[sharn]

be careful, boiling water may not kill all those nasty bugs... got access to any clean rivers? theyre much safer

 

[sin]

sadly no Sharn, i'm going to be leaving them out in the sun to dry out completely for a few weeks, even then i've still got to cycle the new tank and keep an eye on things before my axie's go any where near it.

 

[joan]

Limestone rocks will not affect your pH that much. They will buffer against acidic swings (tanks tend to acidify over time). They'll also make your water 'harder'. Axolotls like hard water. Limestone's good.

As for sterilizing, I'd boil and scrub, but wouldn't worry about it too much. Have you ever taken a petrie dish and pressed your thumb on it and grew it? People are gross! And with your feeding and cleaning and whatnot, they're exposed to a lot more nasties than what would be present on the rocks.

 

[cake]

>

 

[alex]

iv used rocks from a river once, i just boiled them, because boiling kills most if not all living organisms. and once u do put the rock in the tank just keep checking water parameters to see if the rock is making any derastic changes to ph. it should be fine though. good luck and merry x-mas!

 

[sin]

Well they've been boiled and the new tank is full of water and cycling away

I hope the rocks don't have too much of a negative effect because they look nice, will post some pictures when I get some plants.

 

[dane]

I would get them from a nursery. If i were to get the beach rocks i would spray with hose to get dirt of then boil them.