# Tips on choosing and using found rocks and wood in a planted tank?



## ForestDave (15 Nov 2020)

Hi.
It's probably been asked a million times but I was wondering if there was a thread with recommendations on choosing and using found rocks/slate or wood in a planted tank. I am looking to keep my costs down a bit and live in a forest with lots of old quarries dotted about so it would be great to use some of what's around me. 
Thanks


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## thatblokeoverthere (15 Nov 2020)

As I understand it you should thoroughly boil found items to avoid transferring any parasites to your tank, and that wood should have the bark removed. There is probably more advice than that but those two stuck in my memory

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## noodlesuk (15 Nov 2020)

You can also place them in a bucket of water for a few days/week and monitor the PH, see if it is affected. Also some people recommend testing for reactions with vinegar.


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## ForestDave (15 Nov 2020)

thatblokeoverthere said:


> As I understand it you should thoroughly boil found items to avoid transferring any parasites to your tank, and that wood should have the bark removed. There is probably more advice than that but those two stuck in my memory
> 
> Sent from my [null] using Tapatalk


Thank you.


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## ForestDave (15 Nov 2020)

noodlesuk said:


> You can also place them in a bucket of water for a few days/week and monitor the PH, see if it is affected. Also some people recommend testing for reactions with vinegar.


Thank you. What sort of reaction with vinegar should you look out for please?


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## thatblokeoverthere (15 Nov 2020)

If the stone bubbles or fizzes when you put vinegar on it then it will dissolve slowly in water and raise your pH and hardness

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## ForestDave (15 Nov 2020)

Thanks!!


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## Kezzab (15 Nov 2020)

As a rule of thumb, if its hard rock it should be fine. Quick scrub in it goes.


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## Mr.Shenanagins (15 Nov 2020)

Sometimes vinegar isn’t enough, muriatic acid works better.


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## PARAGUAY (16 Nov 2020)

Garden centres and builders merchants have rocks that can be ok inert Granite Slate hard sandstone  often sold for landscaping  walling or rockery . Often they let you take the odd piece free


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## Tim Harrison (16 Nov 2020)

Also take a look at these short threads Collecting your own rocks, and Collecting your own wood


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## ForestDave (16 Nov 2020)

Thanks for all the replies!


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## not called Bob (17 Nov 2020)

avoid rocks with ore marks in them, you will get the metal leaching out into the water


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## Mr.Shenanagins (17 Nov 2020)

PARAGUAY said:


> Garden centres and builders merchants have rocks that can be ok inert Granite Slate hard sandstone  often sold for landscaping  walling or rockery . Often they let you take the odd piece free


This is exactly what I did. I went to a local hardscape center and they let me pick out whatever I wanted for a flat rate. I filled a 5 gallon bucket with medium and small sized stones, and then grabbed a couple larger stones. That cost me $20!
I got what I believe is a quartz based sandstone. It’s VERY hard, I've tried my damndest to break it up but no go! Granite can be attractive if you can get darker colors. It’s hard to get dedicated aquascaping stone here in the US, the prices are completely unreasonable.


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## ForestDave (17 Nov 2020)

I'm way over budget on this tank so cheap/found rocks are a must. This was meant to be a cheap joint christmas present for my daughter and myself but I've ended up getting obsessed with aquascaping! I always feel happier looking at tanks where the fish have a natural landscape to live in.


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## Wolf6 (17 Nov 2020)

Round river rocks are often safe to use, just boil em and use em  Often people are giving them away on second hand sites (at least here in NL), as they're no longer as popular in gardening as they once were. I've also used stones I collected from the ardennes, they supposedly influence water a tiny bit but I never had any issues keeping my values at what I aimed for. You can usually find those for little money in garden stores. Good luck


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## AverageWhiteBloke (17 Nov 2020)

Wolf6 said:


> Round river rocks are often safe to use, just boil em and use em


I would soak them with boiling water rather than physically boil them. Some could explode when heated up.


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## Wolf6 (17 Nov 2020)

AverageWhiteBloke said:


> I would soak them with boiling water rather than physically boil them. Some could explode when heated up.


By boiling I mean pouring boiling water over them, I didnt imagine someone having a big pan boiling a pile of rocks  But can they actually explode? Or just crack?


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## AverageWhiteBloke (17 Nov 2020)

Wolf6 said:


> But can they actually explode? Or just crack?


Not sure mate, I have heard stories of people trying to cool the down with cooler water and them shattering, either way just soaking in boiling is a far safer option, definitely letting them cool gradually if nothing else.


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## dw1305 (17 Nov 2020)

Hi all,


Wolf6 said:


> Round river rocks are often safe to use


I'd go further than that, round cobbles are always safe to use, and any <"effect on water chemistry will be"> , at most, negligible. Only really hard rocks form cobbles.


AverageWhiteBloke said:


> I would soak them with boiling water rather than physically boil them


Yes, they just need a soak. It is for the same reason, if they were permeable they wouldn't have formed cobbles so any salt etc will just be a surface layer.

In terms of rocks, if you have hard tank water you can use any rocks you like the look of. Limestone rocks won't <"make your water any harder">, the water is already saturated with Ca++ and HCO3- ions.

cheers Darrel


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## not called Bob (17 Nov 2020)

Wolf6 said:


> By boiling I mean pouring boiling water over them, I didnt imagine someone having a big pan boiling a pile of rocks  But can they actually explode? Or just crack?


only likely if cooled very fast, if your had used them in a fire then that can be a different story


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## not called Bob (17 Nov 2020)

ForestDave said:


> I'm way over budget on this tank so cheap/found rocks are a must. This was meant to be a cheap joint christmas present for my daughter and myself but I've ended up getting obsessed with aquascaping! I always feel happier looking at tanks where the fish have a natural landscape to live in.


check the garden centre, most places have big old lumps of rockery stone for a few quid


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## AverageWhiteBloke (17 Nov 2020)

There was a place up my way that sold quarry waste for soakaways and backfill, if I remember right I think it was Basalt. Some very interesting pieces on a par with many "scaping" stones I've seen. The biggest difference being it was £25 per ton


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## Mr.Shenanagins (17 Nov 2020)

Be careful where your sourcing your hardscape from with commercial locations. You don’t want anything that has been in contact near any fuel, oil, or any other type of contaminant that would decimate your tank.


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## ForestDave (18 Nov 2020)

Thank you. 
Whatever I get I'll definitely give it all a good boil up too. 
As it happens I got lucky on the wood as a local was selling some bog wood at a really good price so it's just the stones now.


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## ForestDave (18 Nov 2020)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I'd go further than that, round cobbles are always safe to use, and any <"effect on water chemistry will be"> , at most, negligible. Only really hard rocks form cobbles.
> 
> ...


Thanks Darrel. I'll get a test kit and get on it!


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## dw1305 (18 Nov 2020)

Hi all,


ForestDave said:


> I'll get a test kit and get on it!


It isn't exactly a test kit, and doesn't tell you anything specific, but I like a <"conductivity (TDS) meter">. They are <"nice and straight forward to use"> and don't <"require any interpretation"> etc.

If you found a rock, that you weren't sure about, all you would need to do is place it in a container with some RO (or rain) water. Wait a couple of minutes, then <"measure the temperature">, measure the conductivity, then wait a couple of days and repeat the process.


dw1305 said:


> You can see for calcium carbonate it says "insoluble", but a lot of water is "hard" (high dGH/dKH) and saturated with Ca++ and HCO3- ions which doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, this happens because calcium and magnesium carbonate are soluble in acids, and rain-water is naturally slightly acid.



If the rock is inert, the conductivity of the *will be the same*.
If the rock is <"slowly dissolving">, some of the limestone (CaCO3) will have gone into solution as Ca++ and 2HCO3- ions. A greater number of ions conduct more electricity and the (electrical) conductivity of the *water will have gone up*.
I'll be honest I wouldn't even <"bother testing a rounded cobble">, the fact that it is rounded means that it is incredibly hard rock and hard rock is always impermeable.

cheers Darrel


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## ForestDave (18 Nov 2020)

Thanks Darrel


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