nzquiet1 Posted January 29, 2009 Report Share Posted January 29, 2009 Greetings All, have recently started thinking that I want to re-scape my current tank and include some rock etc in there, but just had a thought, is local river rock okay to use in a tank, or should I avoid using at all costs? Any other problems that I should worry about... Appreciate any hints/tips etc. Regards NzQuiet1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted January 29, 2009 Report Share Posted January 29, 2009 Like this? viewtopic.php?f=41&t=30815 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nzquiet1 Posted January 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2009 Like this? Not really, am looking to adding river rock into my current freshwater tropical tank, rather than create a river ecosystem type tank. But one hell of an interesting read in that thread though :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel Posted January 29, 2009 Report Share Posted January 29, 2009 Hi, should be fine - just give them a good hose down. I remember reading on here not so long ago about dropping afew drops of vinegar (I think it was vinegar) if it fizzes then don't use it. Someone may be able to clarify if thats correct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted January 29, 2009 Report Share Posted January 29, 2009 Hi, should be fine - just give them a good hose down. I remember reading on here not so long ago about dropping afew drops of vinegar (I think it was vinegar) if it fizzes then don't use it. Someone may be able to clarify if thats correct. Vinegar, being acidic, will fizz when it comes into contact with something alkaline. If vinegar fizzes on the rock, it indicates the rock would raise the pH of your water. Rocks from a local river should be fine in your tank, on condition the water in the river is reasonably free of pollution, invasive algae, etc. If in doubt you can boil the rocks to sterilise them before putting them in your tank. Officially it is illegal to remove rocks from a river without a permit. This is designed to stop river resources being plundered (imagine if everyone in town collected a truckload of rocks for their home landscaping!) In your case, collecting a few rocks shouldn't be a problem, but please respect the environment and only take what you need. You can also buy sacks of river rocks from garden centres, landscape suppliers, etc. That way you can choose the colour and type of rocks to suit your planned aquascape. Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted January 30, 2009 Report Share Posted January 30, 2009 Watch out for didymo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted January 30, 2009 Report Share Posted January 30, 2009 The riffle tank build Zev linked to was mine. I use river stones and gravel in all my tanks (having moved recently, I am now aware exactly how much gravel I have lugged from the river! :oops:) It looks fabulous, very natural and because the large stones and the gravel are from the same rock, it looks.... 'right'. Take care with what sort of look you want. If your tank is tiny select smaller gravel. If your tank is large bigger gravel and stones look better. Do you gravel vac? Very large pieces of gravel (circa 5cm) are annoying to gravel vac - hard to push through and they get stuck. BUT having a good range from small to large gravel makes it all blend in with the rocks, otherwise (like most tanks with shop-bought gravel) you wind up with: gravel gravel gravel gravel gravel ROCK gravel gravel gravel ROCK gravel gravel etc Variety helps with it looking more natural. If you look around on a beach of gravel, you will find some areas naturally have mixed grades, some fine and some large. Handy if you want to be selective. I LOATHE washing gravel. My favourite technique is to put the gravel in the aquarium (then you can see how much muck is coming out), then put the hose in one end and use the gravel vac to siphon out the dirt. Just keept the hose on and gravel vac until the water is clear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nzquiet1 Posted January 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2009 Hi All thanx for your suggestions. A couple of handy rocks from the garden have done the trick quite nicely, and seem to be fitting in quite well (at this stage at least). I didn't have to hit the river in the end, the suggestion of using garden supplied rock was the hint I needed :-) or reminder ;-) Thanx all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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