# is this somehting to worry about???



## venustus19 (Aug 30, 2007)

my wife is starting a goldfish tank up, and she went out and bought some "pretty rocks" at the craft store today... when she got home, i told her to rinse them off before putting them in the tank... she started rinsing them off, and then decided to read the bag they came in... on the back of the bag, it says not for use in aquariums... the rocks she bought were called polished river rock... is that anything to worry about you think, or maybe i should just bleach them for a bit, and or boil them...
anyone use these rocks from craft stores before, or know of a really good reason not to use them...
thanks...
we are getting(or supposed to be getting) the gold fish tonight when i get home from work, so any fast responses is greatly appreciated....
none of the rocks went into the tank yet, so i am still safe on getting fish if i want, just was hoping to get tank aquascaped before the fish...
thanks


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## iceblue (Apr 27, 2004)

I did a quick search and found this site. Two of the polishing agent were aluminum oxide and tin oxide. I don't know how dangerous these can be, but it might be worth looking into before your wife adds the rocks to her aquarium.

https://shop.rocks4u.com/index.asp?Page ... Category=8


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## exasperatus2002 (Jul 5, 2003)

Well it is for a goldfish tank so if you wanted a canary to test it on go ahead but if you've got kids who might like them I'd say get something else.[/list]


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## JWerner2 (Jul 7, 2008)

Its the same polished rocks from the pet stores. They often print that on the labels.

EDIT: I also guess it would help more if I let you know I have used stuff like that for years in other setups.


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## venustus19 (Aug 30, 2007)

JWerner2: so you think i have nothing to worry about then???


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## iceblue (Apr 27, 2004)

I looked up the 2 oxides and neither seems to pose much threat except as an dust irritant if you breathed them or got them in your eye. A good cleaning should be all they need unless the rock itself contains something that could cause problems down the line. Mainly pyrite. (Fools gold.)

I just read this article and apparently oxides are inert forms of what potentially could be dangerous metals.
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/rock_metals.php


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## Joea (May 25, 2004)

venustus19 said:


> JWerner2: so you think i have nothing to worry about then???


If I had a dead fish for all the products I've used that had "Not for use in aquariums" printed on the label, I'd have no fish.

I think they put that on the label because the product has never been tested (cost?) to be safe for aquariums and they're just covering their butts. Generally, products that are the same as "aquarium safe" products are half the price.

Rinse the rocks off, they'll be fine.

Incidentally, I often tell people that goldfish will survive in a toilet provided you never flush.


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## Donfish (Dec 24, 2007)

Joea said:


> Incidentally, I often tell people that goldfish will survive in a toilet provided you never flush.


If you do accidentally flush you can visit them down at the river.


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## JWerner2 (Jul 7, 2008)

Its much the same as the silicone situation. The companies get paid to put that on labels or are actually subsidiaries of a main company,..etc,..etc... and if they sell one item to a certain company to be purchased at a cheaper price people will flock to it rather than pay that extra amount of cash for something that says its to be used on aquariums specifically..


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