DIY way to check for aquarium safe rock.

[fish_doc]

Just somthing I found and thought it was worth sharing.

I just returned from the AGA Convention (Aquatic Gardeners Assoc.). They had a man, Roger Miller, who spoke on rocks for the aquarium. He is a real rockhound who knows his stuff!
Anyway, we had a discussion a while back on whether the vinegar test was a good way to determine if rocks had calcium in them or not. (Acid fizzes when dripped on calcareous rocks.) Roger said that vinegar _usually_ doesn't work. However, he had a dynamite tip for an easily available acid source that you may already have on your shelf-- ph Down! Yes, that product many use to lower pH is strong enough to do the job of testing rocks to see if they fizz.

Dealers, if you don't know sand about rocks, you now have an easy way to test the rocks in your store so that you'll know if they are safe for fresh water or not. And hobbyists can take along a bottle of pH Down to test rocks they collect in the field before lugging all that weight home.

I had copied this to my files from another place that lost all its files. Unfortunally their file loss was due to a hosting company that wanted to run things differently than the mods on the forum. They ended up ruining a good thing. That forum had several authors moderating and ended up kicking them out because of the differance of opinion. But that is all another story for another place.

[fishn00b]

So does this mean I can test any rock with pH Down? Such as something from like Home Depot to save money, or do I still have to go to my LFS.

[TANKER]

As far as rocks go, a rock is a rock,whether it be from home depot or the lfs. Test any rock from any local to see if its safe, just because its in a lfs doesnt neccessarily mean its safe.

[fish_doc]

Any rock will work. Garden centers are a great place to get rocks for aquariums. Just be sure if you get them off a farm or such there has not been any spraying of chemicals for weed control.

[fishn00b]

Thanks for the information. I might have to check out a garden center. That is a good idea. I'm just trying to find a place that sells it really cheap because I don't feel like paying like 4 - 5 dollars a pound for some shale rock.