# This rock OK for an aquarium?



## Tanku (Mar 14, 2010)

Just wanted to see if anyone knows what this rock is made of and if it would be safe for an Africam cichlid tank? I got the rocks from the mountains in Colorado.


















Thanks for any info!


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## Oscar Madison (Mar 24, 2008)

Just guessing.....Granite?

I would say it is safe.....as long as there is no metal flakes in it.


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

Most likely safe as is. I do a bleach soak for anything I put in the tank even store bought. I never know when the termite man may have sprayed the rock in the back room at the store or when a bird with West Nile virus may have taken a dump on the rock I find. Since chlorine will react with most anything organic, it just makes me feel better to know it's all clean when I use it. I soak overnight in a bucket with a 1/2 cup or so of household bleach. Better to use bleach without color or scent added just to be safe. I look for any sheen on the water just in case there might be oil on or in the rock. I ditch any of that sort. Rinse it and then air dry to let the chlorine dissipate into the air and you then can feel really safe.

Nice rock at a good price, I bet!


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## KiDD (Aug 20, 2010)

It's Safe I got 3 rocks in my tank just like it.


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## alanvickiuk (Jun 14, 2009)

if its granite then its fine i had granite in with my africans for months and months with just a quick soak in the bath with hot water no bleach and it was fine

pic


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

I promote the idea that most rocks are safe and most of the time we could use them with no treatment of any kind. Even the dirt on them is not a serious threat if there was no way to avoid it. But on the other hand we do all kinds of things to avoid using anything dangerous in our tanks. It seems there is always a chance of some unknown virus or bacteria being on a rock. We all know of some that effect us as humans because we have spent a great deal of time and money to study them. Lyme disease, tick fever, West Nile virus, swine flu and a never ending list. Some of these are known to mutate and jump from one species to another. It doesn't take much to envision one that could mutate to harm fish. It is so simple and easy to eliminate this possible cause of trouble that it just seems negligent to ignore the possibilities.

I spend $25 on flu shots to keep me healthy and 25 cents on bleach to keep my fish healthy. 
Seems right to me.


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## zimmy (Aug 13, 2010)

Beautiful tank!
pic 







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## alanvickiuk (Jun 14, 2009)

thank you it looks like this now though


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## tyhoward08 (Apr 23, 2006)

Hey Tanku,

I have something pretty similar (maybe identical) in my 40g. I am not sure the exact rock type. I did the normal bleach process as well as muriatic acid test. I actually found about 30% of what I had to be highly reactive to Muriatic acid. I couldn't make a clear visual distinction between the rocks that reacted and those that didn't, but that doesn't mean they weren't possibly different rock types. I've had the non-reactive rocks running in a tank with fish for about 2 weeks now and everybody seems happy so far. I used the reactive rocks for landscaping so I can't say for sure if they would have even been a problem. For me, it wasn't worth the risk.

Anyways, moral of the story, they are probably fine. If you want to be as sure as you can possibly be, the muriatic acid test is a good way of testing for harmful metals just be careful as Muriatic acid is some nasty stuff.

Here is the thread where I was trying to figure out my rock issues (title is incorrect, not quartz)
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... highlight=

Here is my thread with pictures of my finished tank
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... p?t=219236

Hope this helps


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

I don't use the muriatic acid test. Much of my rock is limestone which is alkaline. If you put an acid on a base, you get a reaction. That would show much of the rocks and gravel as well as coral to be not safe to use. Since lots of us use those items it would seem to be a faulty test to me. Using muriatic to clean hard water deposits off tanks, you do get a fizzing reaction but that doesn't say the hard water deposits are unsafe, just a nuisance.


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## FishyOne (Jan 21, 2010)

Looks like granite to me, one of the more common rocks in the CO mountains. I don't see any reason why it would not work in your aquarium.


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