Hi,

Is it safe to use river rocks for an aquarium? I would take these from the river myself or from Higgins (quarry).

Also, what kind of wood can I use? Don't really want to buy the expensive pieces from aquarium shop

Cheers

Yep, fine to use. The west coast is also mighy fine for finding drift wood.

Any of the native timbers do well as they dont rot and sink very quickly.

I just give a quick rince off or scrub if thay have lots of dirt/algae on them.

River Rocks will be fine, if your worried about if they will affect they water chemisrty you can do the vinigar test.

River Rocks will be fine, if your worried about if they will affect they water chemisrty you can do the vinigar test.

Does this even work? I tryed it once on limestone and it didnt do jack. Figured vinegar was just know where acidic enough?

Either way river stones shouldnt alter you water. Limestone, marble etc can help lift your ph. Drift wood can soften it. cheers.

many moons ago I got some rock from a clean lively river, even had trout, so I am told. however, after cleaning and soaking, these rocks, overnight killed all the africans i had. About $200+ down the tube, so, as a suggestion, put temporarily in sacrificial tank. :dead%fish

many moons ago I got some rock from a clean lively river, even had trout, so I am told. however, after cleaning and soaking, these rocks, overnight killed all the africans i had. About $200+ down the tube, so, as a suggestion, put temporarily in sacrificial tank. :dead%fish

What about the rock killed them? I did once read of someone blaming a rock they collected from a river for killing their fish, after a while it turned out they'd soaked it in bleach to kill anything then, after a quick rinse, thrown it in the tank.

Most rocks, especially those found in a river, don't dissolve very fast at all. They'll have been in the water for years, even decades, anything easily soluble would be loooooong gone.

+1

also where was this rock from?

Rocks were cleaned with scrubbing brush only used for fish purposes from new, no detergents, bleaches etc.

The rocks were from the karangahake gorge (that's the one on the way to Tauranga from Auckland) from the main channel of the river.

I have put it down to the fact that as previously the river was used in gold mining, some toxin may still have been on the rock, perhaps released by the scrubbing done to clean it for use.

The toxin suspected would be arsenic. I did not, however test the water on myself....

I found it strange that as the new rock was the only change made in the tank and that simply added to the existing hardscape, so the the substrate was not even disturbed.

Hopefully my analysis will hold up to the people who do know better than I (i am not being sacastic, jsut asking if I have made an analytical error here) :smln:

From that river I would suspect arsenic (or another metal or cyanide) as well, there has been alot of it in them in that river over the years

I have some welding flux that I use for testing rocks instead of vinegar. I know it works because it sizzles when it hits the concrete. You can get some of that from Placemakers/Bunnings etc.

I've got plenty of rocks from the gorge over the years and never had a problem its a very healthy river.im not sure what itd be 2 years ago when i stayed there on holiday i had a 200 litre shrimp tank with sand and rocks from the gorge

I have used river rocks in my tanks no probs. I put them in a large bucket and let the water run over them for about 10-15min to get rid of most the dust and dirt then I put them in our dishwasher without any powder. I usually would do two cycles just to be certain. Dishwashers heat the water to quite a high heat so it should kill most things. Won't stop toxic leaching however..

I've got plenty of rocks from the gorge over the years and never had a problem its a very healthy river.im not sure what itd be 2 years ago when i stayed there on holiday i had a 200 litre shrimp tank with sand and rocks from the gorge

"in May 1988 was accompanied by a huge toxic spill of cyanide slurry into the Ohinemuri River"

Plauu what ever was left from the last mining

Never had any pro normal with anything from the gorge though and it's fast flowing so reside from 88 wouldn't still be around life in that river is amazing go there at about 11.30 under the bridge before cafe and there's hundreds of fish schooling around u :smot: I love that river slot have water place evergreen up going to partial every second weekend for 12 years

i need to find a river close to me to find some rocks/wood hehe

i need to find a river close to me to find some rocks/wood hehe

Hunua maybe?

The west coast is also mighy fine for finding drift wood.

Found some nice pieces on Himatangi Beach. Can I assume they are all good to use?

I don't know anything about wood but they are not all the same type.

Some of them seem to chip their outer layer easier than others. Also, not sure which one of them would rot.

Cheers

Found some nice pieces on Himatangi Beach. Can I assume they are all good to use?

I don't know anything about wood but they are not all the same type.

Some of them seem to chip their outer layer easier than others. Also, not sure which one of them would rot.

Cheers

Yes, they're all fine. If they do rot you just take them out.

Go for the darker more denser types.

The lighter stuff is usually something like pine and will rot a lot faster.