# Stone ID please....is it good for iwagumi?



## clone (16 Jul 2013)

Hi, I just found these stones in the mountains back home. They are not some fancy ADA stones but look like Manten a lot. Can anyone ID these pls? Is it poor man Manten stone? All I can say they rise my pH from 4.2 to 7...when the stone was temporary in one of my tanks. It is quite heavy looks like consists metal in it.....I am no Geologist so I couldn't say. Love the textures and the shapes. As long as I know Manten is volcanic stone but in these mountain there is not a volcanos it is in Europe. The pics 






















 
Thanks in advance.


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## Ady34 (16 Jul 2013)

Can't help with the I'd, but wow, lovely stones, id love to use them. they have great texture much like seiryu, but a nice brown bronze colour.....more natural looking IMO. Shame about the dramatic effect on ph, will be nice if someone can identify them and their suitability.
Cheerio
Ady


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## clone (16 Jul 2013)

Thanks for the respond Ady. Yes I have to test them before skape but as long as I know most of the ADA stones change pH apart of Unzah and Ohko. I just dont know if you dont do WC for instance the pH will rise progressively or will reach some peak and will stop. I can Imagine the stone as mix of minerals and the water as dissolvent, therefore the solution will reach some level of mineralissation and will stop.....Am I wrong? Do you know how to test stones for karbonates consistence and aquarium compatibility? Thanks. What about the rest of the minerals?


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## Ady34 (16 Jul 2013)

clone said:


> Thanks for the respond Ady. Yes I have to test them before skape but as long as I know most of the ADA stones change pH apart of Unzah and Ohko. I just dont know if you dont do WC for instance the pH will rise progressively or will reach some peak and will stop. I can Imagine the stone as mix of minerals and the water as dissolvent, therefore the solution will reach some level of mineralissation and will stop.....Am I wrong? Do you know how to test stones for karbonates consistence and aquarium compatibility? Thanks. What about the rest of the minerals?


I don't know unfortunately, its something I'm going to be going through with the seiryu stone I'm using currently. Large frequent water changes can be used to try and keep TDS from increasing too dramatically, but you would have to monitor it with a meter to determine how often you had to water change so as not to create huge swings in water chemistry for sensitive species and inverts. Alternatively test it over a period to see how much it rises and then choose fish/shrimp to suit the water.
Regards aquarium compatability, the rock will need to be positively id'd first before use to ensure it is fauna safe.
I'd imagine much like any buffering rock, the extra acidity created by co2 injection will only increase the rate of dissolving material and exaggerate the effects!
Cheerio
Ady


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## Yo-han (16 Jul 2013)

Testing for carbonated is easy, just pour some strong acid on a piece of stone you won't see later on. Most PO4 test kits that use the blue scale have acid in the bottle you need to add first. When it bubbles, lots of carbonates. A little is no problem, almost all stones will. The white veins of the rock are most likely to contain carbonates. You can always boil the rocks to sterilize them. Leaves other things like heavy metals but I don't see them becoming a problem with regular water changes 

How much to ship 25kg to me?


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## clone (16 Jul 2013)

Hi, the stone is fauna safe , it stayed nearly a week in one of my tanks when I notice it rises the pH. I am planning to set the stones in separate tank and to test the water regulary for about a week: GH, KH, pH at least no WC so....will see
Those stones are just a sample what I can carry in the plane. I need to organase collecting holiday it is outside UK. If the rock pass the test I will go and collect....


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