Rocks from outdoors

[littlelil]

I am hoping to put a large rock in my tank, so i figure my best chances of finding the "perfect" rock is to find it somewhere outdoors. How would I go about making it tank-ready? I think i remember reading about a few different options: bleach dip? put it in the oven? bleach dip and then the oven?

Thanks

[Brent Shaver]

For any outside rock I have used in the past I boiled the rock.   You can add a bit of bleach with this as well but I dont think it is needed.  The reason I started boiling the rock is because unless you know the density of the rock in question you could fracture it or worse explode it in the oven due to the heat.  Boiling water will kill anything on the rock that could hurt your tank.  Dont forget to put down light grill to distribute the weight so you dont get an unwanted surprise.  Speaking from experience this isnt fun and fatal for your fish if you dont have a back up tank.

Hope this helps.

[QueensU]

just had a flashback of deuce bigalow male gigolo where he smashes that giant tank, and has fish all over the house in pots and jars and the blender.

[Brine]

I've boiled rocks in the past. When the rocks are too big for a pot I've put them in the bathtub and poured kettle after kettle of boiling water over them. This seems to work without any problems.
Bleach can alter the colour of the rock if you use too much.

[markw]

You really should not boil rocks! Problem is that sometimes fizures in the centre of the rock can hold water, gas etc. When you boil the rock that has to expand and it can actually explode the rock under the extra pressure. All you need is to put it into a laundry sink and add a bit of javex(capful) Let it sit for a few hours, then rinse it, and then rinse it again and again and again. It will kill anything present and is a lot safer than boiling or oven.

[Brent Shaver]

Maybe I didnt explain it fully.  By boiling I mean just until the bottom of the pot shows it is about to boil.  This is not near enough to heat a large rock to the shatter point.  I personally dont like bleach, if you take the parts per million and apply to the size of a human in comparison you might not feel to well.  So dont want my fish to experience it either.

It is all in personal preference.  I dont try to come across as knowing everything, just have had good luck with this method.

[ciaus]

Not all rocks are meant for an Aquarium either...talk to someone who is a lapidary because there "rocks" around that a re very nice, but in fact would leach deadly chemicals into the water, because they aren't really rocks, but large mineral chunks....I think most things that end in "ite" are not good for tanks with live fish...

HTH

Ciaus

for what it is worth, it has been my experience that immersion in scalding hot water has been sufficient to eradicate undesirable things that might be on the surface of a rock.

[caretaker]

  I scrub the rocks before boiling and then add salt to the water


The salt kills some bacteria but more important in raises the water temperature when boiling !

[markw]

You might want to take a look at this link; http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/freshwater-aquariums/do-not-boil-rocks-7424/

[QueensU]

A weak bleach/water solution would do it, 20:1 or so, there is enough chlorine in regular tap water to kill most things, so using a 24hr bleach soak will do the job. Follow it up with several rinses will take away any residual chlorine. Rinse it until you can't smell bleach anymore.