# Stones and Rocks - Safety issues?



## Atom (Apr 21, 2010)

I found some rounded stones in my neighbor's flower bed/garden  and was wondering it is safe to put in the aquarium?
They look very similar to these...









I don't know what the stones are, but I have boiled them (30 mins) and tried the vinegar test.

Anything else I should do to determine they aren't going to kill my fish?

Thanks.


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## JUICE (Jan 4, 2020)

your good to go !! no worries


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## Adz1 (Apr 21, 2010)

JUICE said:


> your good to go !! no worries


agreed....


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## AWW (Apr 22, 2010)

the only thing you have to be worried about in rocks is if it has a clay base and can decompose in the water, if it crumbles to dust, or if it has non- metomorphic red in it. It it has red in it it has high iron levels and it will screw things up


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## Crazy_NDN (Apr 21, 2010)

only thing i would worry about is your neighbor getting pissed at you for stealing his rocks


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## Atom (Apr 21, 2010)

AWW said:


> the only thing you have to be worried about in rocks is if it has a clay base and can decompose in the water, if it crumbles to dust, or if it has non- metomorphic red in it. It it has red in it it has high iron levels and it will screw things up


I don't think this will happen, but I will look out for that for sure.



Crazy_NDN604 said:


> only thing i would worry about is your neighbor getting pissed at you for stealing his rocks


Technically they were scattered on my side of the yard, but I'm sure she won't notice 5 missing. Maybe I'll replace them with some other rocks I find  but yeah I know what you mean.


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

Return some pink or bright red rocks, so it's mroe noticeable to your neighbor =)


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## Hammer (Apr 22, 2010)

those look fine.


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## Atom (Apr 21, 2010)

So I set up my fishless tank yesterday and added the (boiled) rocks too.

This morning I woke up with a CLOUDY aquarium. Was this caused by the rocks? 

Aside from the rocks I just have regular gravel (rinsed), live plants and a coconut cave in there. The water isn't brown/yellow and the cave was boiled so I don't think that is the culprit.

I left the filter off overnight.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Are you doing a fishless cycle with ammonia? Those stones are rounded from years and years (probably centuries) of being in a river and anything this can be leached is long gone in them. 100% sure they are safe, especially since you boiled them (in case they carried any live organisms).


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## Atom (Apr 21, 2010)

2wheelsx2 said:


> Are you doing a fishless cycle with ammonia? Those stones are rounded from years and years (probably centuries) of being in a river and anything this can be leached is long gone in them. 100% sure they are safe, especially since you boiled them (in case they carried any live organisms).


No I am not...well I don't think so.

The tank has no fish right now because I plan on moving a Betta in there later. I just haven't done it yet because I haven't quite sorted out all the plants and decor yet.

I haven't intentionally added anything to cycle the tank. But I am thinking of taking an old filter and placing it in the new tank.

I have had the filter run for 8 hours now and the cloudiness has disappeared. I plan on turning off the filter again at night. I will see if the cloudiness appears again.

I guess it isn't the rocks then, but a cycling issue?


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## crazy72 (Apr 22, 2010)

More likely your gravel I would think. Even if you rinsed it several times, new gravel usually clouds up the water a bit for a few hours.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Atom said:


> I guess it isn't the rocks then, but a cycling issue?


Well, if there are no nutrients (ie, source of ammonia) it isn't a cycling issue as there is no cycling going on. It's just a container of water.


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## Blair917 (May 10, 2010)

I agree with crazy72 its probably from the gravel even if you rinse it well it will still cloud the water a bit a first but it will sort itself out as the filter runs. All the rocks in my tank (about a dozen to 16 decent sized rocks) are out of a creek in the interior, I cleaned them the same way you have and have never had a problem. I think you are safe to get the decor how you want it and put your beta in, I would put a product like cycle in first however to make sure you have good bacteria in the tank prior to putting the fish in.


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