May be worth boiling them beforehand, dependent on what type of stone it is of course
People collect rocks from outside all the time to use in tanks, so i dont see why not But yeah like crumbs said it'd be worth boiling them to get rid of anything harmful that may have inhabited/grown on it May be worth doing the vinegar test too
You just need to rinse them in water, any detergents, bleach etc you add to them are going to be much more damaging than anything they've collected in the garden. If you want to boil them that is fine, but it isn't really necessary.I gave them a wash and a clean
When you add acid (acetic acid in vinegar) to a carbonate rock CO2 is evolved. I think Seiryu stone is a hard limestone (calcium carbonate), so if you have a good scrape at the surface (to produce some rock dust) and add vinegar you should see some little bubbles appear. Unless you want to keep black-water fish in very soft water, this isn't really relevant.Also what is the vinegar test? That's a new one to me!
sounds good, I'm waiting to see these stones in situe🙂 cheers Kirk.That's a good point, I going to give them a wash tomorrow and start to arrange them in the tank latter
Good point,didn't think of that although this "Daphnia bioassay" is the technique I use for testing rain-water.If you want to check they are still shrimp-safe after that, put them in a bucket of water with some daphnia or cyclops for a few days. If they have picked up anything that will kill shrimps it's almost certain to kill daphnia too.