How to prep Dragon Stone (Ohko Stone) for Aquarium ?

[KittenFishMom]

I bought some dragon stone for my tanks. I have never used it before. Do I need to do anything to it before putting it in my tanks? Anything I need to be careful about?

Thanks

Edited March 27, 2023 by KittenFishMom

[AllFishNoBrakes]

I use Dragon Stone in basically all my tanks. 
 

It has TONS of nooks and crannies filled with mud and dirt. You will need to rinse them EXTENSIVELY before putting them in your tank!

Rinse and scrub and rinse and scrub and rinse and scrub. When you think you’re done, you’re probably halfway there. 
 

I don’t use any chemicals or anything. Just lots and lots of rinsing and scrubbing under running tap water. 

[KittenFishMom]

@AllFishNoBrakes Sounds like a nightmare for your drains. I'll start socking and scrubbing in a bucket until it is warm enough to use the hose outside. I bet salt would be useful in the water. It make cleaning muddy potatoes a snap. I'll be very careful to use aquarium safe salt and rise it extra well.

[AllFishNoBrakes]

I was probably a little dramatic, but was trying to emphasize that there’s lots of dirt. I’ve had what I thought was just a nook in the rock be more like a cave that went all the way through the rock and it was just jam packed with dirt. 

[KittenFishMom]

@AllFishNoBrakes Thanks! Salt is a dispersant, so it breaks up muddy/soil. That is why it is bad for plants in high concentrations.

[MattyM]

I soaked mine in a bucket of water and rinsed best I could for a few days. Still got some mud/clay in the tank but it is easily siphoned out. 

[jwcarlson]

By dragon stone you mean mud with a little bit of rock. 😄

Rinse all you can, but you're going to bring mud over with it.  It isn't the end of the world, get the loose stuff off and toss it in.

[Lennie]

@nabokovfan87 may help!

[nabokovfan87]

On 3/27/2023 at 12:49 PM, MattyM said:

I soaked mine in a bucket of water and rinsed best I could for a few days. Still got some mud/clay in the tank but it is easily siphoned out. 

This.....

For dragon stone you seriously want to soak it.

I get the stone home, use a hose, try to spray off any of the major dirt and rinse out the holes. Once you get there you'll start to see the "mud holes" that you can clean out. That mud has been packed in there forever and needs to be rehydrated to be able to clean it out. The stone can crumble on you, but the main thing is that you either get that mud out before or it's going to be released in the tank.

It's a fantastic stone, just be patient. Shake it underwater, clean it, rinse it, and try to get that stuff stuck deep inside.

On 3/27/2023 at 11:25 AM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

It has TONS of nooks and crannies filled with mud and dirt. You will need to rinse them EXTENSIVELY before putting them in your tank!

When I first got mine all of this was filled in.

 

[KittenFishMom]

Did I mention that I bought 5 pounds? There are a lot of pieces. I'm hoping it helps tanks cycle.