Best types of substrate for planted tanks and how to be cost effective with them

[Dork Fish]

@Pepere No after looking into what @nabokovfan87 sent, I feel fine about bleach, was just curious why bleach is used over something like vinegar. 🙂

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/28/2023 at 6:00 PM, Dork Fish said:

@nabokovfan87 Is there a reason to soak in bleach solution compared to something like white vinegar?

It's pretty much just easier and safer because it's more thorough.  Hydrogen peroxide is an oxidizer.  Vinegar is used as a PH shift method.  Bleach is actually meant and intended as a sanitization liquid. Every time we do a water change in out tanks we dose in dechlorinator.... for chlorine.... which is very similar to neutralizing bleach.

You soak the items you need to, and then you would dilute or drain / replace the water with plain water from the tap.  Once that is done, add in your dechlorinator and just let it sit.  15-60 minutes work and much easier I think.  Just my experience.

[Dork Fish]

@nabokovfan87 That is a good explanation, I know that vinegar was recommended to remove minerals. Makes sense that bleach would disinfect better though. That is the route that I will be taking, thank you 🙂

[Tanked]

On 6/28/2023 at 11:51 AM, Dork Fish said:

Thank you everyone, I appreciate the advice. I will look into grill lava rock.

@nabokovfan87 @Tanked Did either of you have to sterilize the rock before adding to aquarium? If so, what was your process for that?

I gave the lava rocks a thorough rinsing. The grill rocks had extra fine grit that needed to be rinsed off.  Rocks from the garden path still contained some soil. That was part of the experiment. For my purposes, the lava rocks were the substrate.  Rocks harvested from anywhere else get boiled. 

[Dork Fish]

@Tanked I ended up getting some lava rock from my local hardware store. Going to soak in 50% water/bleach solution then in seachem dechlorinate solution to ensure the blech is neutralized. Then I will rinse them off and let them dry for a couple days. 🙂

Edited June 30, 2023 by Dork Fish
grammar

[Dork Fish]

@nabokovfan87 So I soaked the lava rock in 50/50 thin bleach(non-scented) and water. Then I rinsed the rock. Then I soaked in a bunch of seachem dechlorinate and water solution, then rinsed again. Now soaking in warm water but the rock still smells just a little bit like bleach, any ideas?

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/30/2023 at 7:02 PM, Dork Fish said:

@nabokovfan87 So I soaked the lava rock in 50/50 thin bleach(non-scented) and water. Then I rinsed the rock. Then I soaked in a bunch of seachem dechlorinate and water solution, then rinsed again. Now soaking in warm water but the rock still smells just a little bit like bleach, any ideas?

Just give it time. Dechlorinator does have a smell to it as well. you can let it air dry and the bleach will dissipate, re-soak it, etc.

Lava rock has the pores, so worst case it's just a matter of waiting.  Add an airstone to help move water or use something to rotate the rocks around in the bucket and all the internal particles will release themselves after a few rolls.

[Dork Fish]

@nabokovfan87 Okay good to know 🙂

Maybe I will soak over night in the dechlorinate

[Dork Fish]

@Pepere Ah okay, I was following the guide above. Looks like it will work either way the 50% is apparently just more laborious for lava rock LOL

[Dork Fish]

@Pepere Yeah they were lava rocks from the hardware store, needed a ton of cleaning lol