Black Lava Rock

[Mmiller2001]

Sold from home improvement stores aquarium safe? And is it inert?

Edited December 20, 2022 by Mmiller2001

[nabokovfan87]

On 12/20/2022 at 10:37 AM, Mmiller2001 said:

Sold from home improvement stores aquarium safe? And is it inert?

Generally it should be. yes.  Most of the times it's sold for BBQs, but if you can get larger size pieces from a rockyard or garden shop you should be fine.

Before I add mine to the tank (decoration) I take sandpaper to break all the very sharp edges.  It can be some pretty intensely sharp rock if it's not tumbled / deburred.

CC @AK Aquatics 🙂
 

 

[Tanked]

On 12/20/2022 at 1:37 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

Sold from home improvement stores aquarium safe? And is it inert?

Without issue, I have used it fresh from the bag, and harvested from the garden path for a semi-dirted substrate. Because It is so easy to work with, I also use it for plant weights. Everything I have read indicates that it is inert.

[tolstoy21]

I order mine through Home Depot. 

The brand I use is American Fire. You can get bags of it in various sizes, which I like to do to give a varied appearance.

I have mine on top of black Flourite sand which is the same exact color and I believe made from lava rock as well. You can see it in my tank pic below.

Just give it a good rinse, as it can sometimes be dusty.   But as @Tanked said, yeah I've also used it straight out of the bag as well and its been fine (filters pulled dust out of water after less than a day).

I'll even sometimes use the medium sized pieces as bio filtration in box filters.

No issues using it at all.

I never buy the stuff they have in the store cause it's always red (I like black) and never the size I want.

You can also find American Fire lava rock on Amazon.

 

Edited December 21, 2022 by tolstoy21

[Mmiller2001]

Awesome, thank you all. Paying 72 bucks for 18 pounds was not on my to do list.