Duke3d Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 My question is very simple and some may wonder why I am asking it, but can you simply use gravel dug out of my nearby river - is it possible that there are stones in there I do not want? Anyones thoughts please Am just trying to cut costs where I can and this is an easy one really Will be heavily planting the tank also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 Its the same place the shops get it. Just boil it first to kill any nasties. If your going into a planted tank I suggest you look into adding something to your substrate as well. I use 50/50 aquadic clay (about $12 bag from plant shop) gravel mix. And some peat moss cause I keep Discus. Then a 3-5cm layer of just gravel on top to stop it getting into the water to much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGilchrist Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 I've used rocks from the pareora river to make caves with no problems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 I believe you have some great river rocks down that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke3d Posted March 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 Yes there are definitely some nice looking rocks alright. Apart from the Vinegar test there is no real way of knowing whether those lovely coloured bits in the rock aren't going to release something into the water. The actual river bed stones are quite colourful - mainly the grey pebble but also your bits of red and white etc. And same applies - how do you really know what they are? But I agree this is where pet shops get their stones from - do they have a selection process to take out any that would affect a tank in any way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vjarn Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 i think you may need a resource consent under the freshwater act. you cant remove anything unless its under the limit, and mind you the limit isnt that big. but if no-ones watching :roll: i still dont condone it those regulations were put into place for a reason. think about the homes of the little ones you'll be taking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lorenzo Posted March 20, 2005 Report Share Posted March 20, 2005 all the gravel and sand comes from rivers. i got my material (gravel, sand, stones) from my work (highway construction) all those material are used to make roads so i payed nothing for them. the gravel and sand i washed very carefull to get the dust out and the stones i boiled them for 3/4 of an hour. try to get as much as you can for free coz building a tank cost a lot and this way is more fun i think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted March 20, 2005 Report Share Posted March 20, 2005 Leave the stones gravel etc in water for a week testing the water before and at the end for PH KH, and anything else you can think of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joze Posted March 25, 2005 Report Share Posted March 25, 2005 just put 100 litres of gravel in the tank tonight, one bonus is that the stones came from the same river as our water supply so the parameters are pretty close, I didnt bother boiling them as I would have been there till doomsday. I have been meaning to landscape that tank for sometime and decied that it looked crappy full of fish in a bare tank. Fish seem to like it and the oscars have landscaped the base to their liking. The GG is sulking as she does when anything is out of the ordinary, thats one fish who hates a change in routine. I have some large flat stones to go in and need to resoak a couple of logs to go in to finish off. There is nothing underneath to filter but I figured the hose on full blast in the stones while doing a waterchange should work just as well. I might risk putting the heater back in the tank but will rig a cover of sorts to protect it and disguise it. The next step after that would be rigging the light batons up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joze Posted March 26, 2005 Report Share Posted March 26, 2005 stuck some boulders in there tonight, I now know why one of the oscars looks like he has been through a waste disposal, the pair were cleaning it while I was trying to place it in the tank. It went something like feeding a cat, shove them out of the way with one hand put the rock down with the other. It was a bit of comedy session with a severum floating on its side with only an eye poking out. Nope, it wasnt sick just eyeballing the upper outside world. The pearl gouramis in the same tank are schooling and coming for air as a pack, every now and then one would get brave and go and see what the oscars were up to. I find it amazing that there are pearl gouramis in the tank...the same number I stuck in there. Looks pretty cool with a variety of different fish of different sizes in all levels. Strictly speaking some of the species shouldnt be anywhere near each other but I guess the tank is big enough and the larger fish placid enough to get away with it. Still room for a few more fish, Think I might get some angels in there as I am too slack with water parameters for discus. Empty it with the pool pump, fill with the hose. A 50% hose siphon takes on average 3 hours so the pump works well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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