[Atom]

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.

 

[JUICE]

your good to go !! no worries

 

[Adz1]

your good to go !! no worries

agreed....

 

[AWW]

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

 

[Crazy_NDN]

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

 

[Atom]

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.

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.

 

[eternity302]

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

 

[Hammer]

those look fine.

 

[Atom]

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.

 

[2wheelsx2]

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).

 

[Atom]

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?

 

[crazy72]

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.

 

[2wheelsx2]

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.

 

[Blair917]

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.