# A Warning About a Common Rock



## zenobium (Jan 5, 2006)

I'm so pissed.

Over the last year I have lost 3 colonies of fish in one tank. Each time I thought I knew the probable source, blaming chemistry, ammonia spikes and other nonsense even though tests were generally normal. I finally figured out what happened....

I HAD A NATURAL PIECE OF LAVA ROCK IN MY AQUARIUM!!!

I never thought this mattered because, after all they sell lava rocks at the LFS. Turns out all those rocks are manufactured, natural lava rock is full of sulfur and other nasty compounds. I have killed multiple fish and wasted tons of money over such a stupid mistake.

:x

Ok, I need to go get a drink or something and calm down.

-Zen


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## TrashmanNYC (Dec 10, 2007)

what about the landscaping lava rock from home depot?


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## zenobium (Jan 5, 2006)

Should be fine because I'm pretty sure thats all manufactured also. My piece was literally "lava rock" in that it came out of a volcano somewhere....

-Zen


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## teqvet (Mar 24, 2008)

Volcanoes somewhere in Michigan? 

Ok that has to make you grin a little!


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## zenobium (Jan 5, 2006)

lol

Yeah, its not a Michigan piece. I used to teach high school science and a student brought it in and gave it to me. He brought it back from a family vacation I believe... probably Hawaii. Anyway, it was a cool looking rock, put it in my tank, you know the rest.

-Zen


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## bobberly1 (Dec 2, 2006)

Ouch. Any representative pictures of what it looked like?


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## zenobium (Jan 5, 2006)

This picture seems pretty close, its a decent size piece that weighs maybe 3 or 4 lbs.


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

lava rock CAN contain very nasty impurities like heavy metals, etc.

It has nothing to do with being natural or not... simply where the lava rock came from. I've used real lava rock in several aquariums without an issue but would NEVER and I mean NEVER put a bit of "found" lava rock in any tank I own.

I am also very wary of adding rocks from anywhere without first checking some reports on the area. Same thing could happen with a chunk of limestone...


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## zazz (Apr 5, 2008)

but you see some rocks ..and you want to do some checks ..so the guy presents a full breakdown of the chemical composition of the rocks and the location from where they came from :roll: just not going to happen.


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

zazz said:


> but you see some rocks ..and you want to do some checks ..so the guy presents a full breakdown of the chemical composition of the rocks and the location from where they came from :roll: just not going to happen.


are you seriously rolling your eyes at my suggestion to NOT add rocks without knowing where they came from or what might be in them? 
are calculated risks not miles better than the OP's tanks of dead fish?

I'll resist typing out what I feel like typing...


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## zazz (Apr 5, 2008)

dont take my rolling eyes to heart...but i just dont trust what people would tell me about the rocks they are trying to sell me...of course the idea to find out all there is to know about what you are putting in your tank is beyond argument. 

the idea of doing a survey of the area that they were taken from sounds pretty difficult...

but maybe its possible?


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## iceblue (Apr 27, 2004)

Just as a snide note some Hawaiians believe their volcanoes to be sacred and removing a rock from the island is to steal from the Gods. Plenty of stories out their of people who came to bad misfortune when they came home with a piece of Hawaii and things not getting better until the lava was sent back to the island.  :thumb:


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

zazz said:


> the idea of doing a survey of the area that they were taken from sounds pretty difficult...


 All I have ever done is used google, and read surveys of the area I intended to visit... it's never been difficult. The alternative, is to just go buy the rock!

It is NOT an alternative IMHO to just cross fingers and add rock... my wet pets are more precious than that to me...


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## zenobium (Jan 5, 2006)

iceblue said:


> Just as a snide note some Hawaiians believe their volcanoes to be sacred and removing a rock from the island is to steal from the Gods. Plenty of stories out their of people who came to bad misfortune when they came home with a piece of Hawaii and things not getting better until the lava was sent back to the island.  :thumb:


Great, so now I have to drop by the local FedEx on my way home.

:lol:

-Zen


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## Solchitlins (Jul 23, 2003)

wow.
I have read about using lava rubble as bio media, guess that could be a costly mistake.

I don't trust the LFS, they sell a lot of stuff that could be unsafe. 
Tahatian moon sand for example is slag and could be harmfull to fish but that doesn't stop them from marketing it to us.


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## trackhazard (Mar 21, 2007)

Black Beauty is slag made from refining copper. It may/may not contain high levels of copper, iron and other metals that could hurt your fish.

Tahitian Moon Sand is not copper slag and is not the same thing.

Charlie


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## MauiGups (Sep 2, 2008)

Regarding what was said about Hawaii;

I myself am from Hawaii and live here, and have heard the same story. Theres a ton of lava rock on the beaches here, and I've came close to taking some home, until i remembered the old story.

On the way home I found a lava rock wall built around and apartment complex, with loose rocks fallen off. I took those home, and they're in my tank. So far nothing bad has happened :thumb:

Sorry to hear about your losses. I sure hope my rocks dont do the same


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## skyleranne (Mar 25, 2007)

I had real lava rocks that we had gotten up in Or and never had a problem with it in my tanks.


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## Stickzula (Sep 14, 2007)

I too have real lava rocks from at least 2 different sources containing at least 4 different kinds of mineral. some red, some gray, others black, and still others brown. The red, black and gray ones have been in my tanks for about 2 years and the brown ones are going on a year now with no ill affects. I agree that some rocks can contain harmful material, but IME lava rocks are pretty safe. I think that the moral of this story is know the risks and make an educated decision.


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## anafranil (Feb 8, 2009)

So why is the rock's fault this time and not something else like the previous times?


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## bones06 (Sep 26, 2007)

Solchitlins said:


> wow.
> I have read about using lava rubble as bio media, guess that could be a costly mistake.
> 
> I don't trust the LFS, they sell a lot of stuff that could be unsafe.
> Tahatian moon sand for example is slag and could be harmfull to fish but that doesn't stop them from marketing it to us.


I have used bagged lava rock from home depot in my eheim cannister with no issues for the last year. Much cheaper then the "Eheim media" and probaly the same type of composition.


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