Adding New Rocks

[golfstronger]

Hey All, thanks in advance for advice/help. Pretty new to all this. I am curious what to do to store bought aquarium rocks before adding to my tank. I believe they are slate rocks and I have about 10lbs I'm going to arrange in a cave mountain. Just rinse in freshwater? Vinegar rinse? Boil? Or not worry about it? I can't get a good definitive answer looking online or in the Co-op videos. 

 

My tank... About a year old 45 gallon with substrate base and live plants. Large variety of about 20 fish in the tank. 

 

[Beau Burkhalter]

Don’t boil cause they could explode🤯. I would just rinse in tap water and dry with paper towel. Slate is normally inert so it shouldn’t effect water parameters 

[lefty o]

i just rinse in really hot water.

[Odd Duck]

I rinse in tap water and scrub them vigorously with a brush under running water.  Done.

[Maggie]

1 hour ago, Beau Burkhalter said:

Don’t boil cause they could explode🤯. 

I've read never to boil rocks as well. I just rinsed my rocks (also bought from LFS) in tap water to get rid of dust, the same as with aquarium gravel and had no issue in 3 different tanks. 

[Frank]

This isn't a suggestion or recommendation.

And, I haven't tried it with slate. I only used it with my lava rocks. 

I soaked them in tap water, brushed them off - in the bucket, and set them aside to drain. Then, I baked them in the oven. I started at 150°F for an hour. Then I raised the temperature by 25° every 30 minutes until reaching 225°. After another half-hour, I let them cool - in the oven.

I'm sure that it was totally unnecessary. 

[Odd Duck]

15 hours ago, Frank said:

This isn't a suggestion or recommendation.

And, I haven't tried it with slate. I only used it with my lava rocks. 

I soaked them in tap water, brushed them off - in the bucket, and set them aside to drain. Then, I baked them in the oven. I started at 150°F for an hour. Then I raised the temperature by 25° every 30 minutes until reaching 225°. After another half-hour, I let them cool - in the oven.

I'm sure that it was totally unnecessary. 

Baking them can also potentially make them explode.  Rocks can contain pockets of air or moisture that expand with heat and can cause them to explode.  It is definitely NOT recommended that you heat your rocks!  

Wash them very well with plain water, use a brush to scrub them, but do not heat them since it can be dangerous.

To further expand on my previous answer, that applies to rocks purchased from an aquarium store or rocks that you know what they are.  If you are collecting your own rocks there are certain things you should do.  If you don’t know they are an aquarium safe rock, you can do a vinegar test to minimize risk of leaching or affecting your pH.  Drop vinegar on them and if they bubble, don’t use them.  Limestone in general, isn’t good for most community tanks but could be helpful for certain species of fish in certain types of tap water since it can act as a natural buffer.  Find out what your fish need and what type of water you have.  It’s easiest to keep fish that are naturally adapted to your water, but most fish are very adaptable.
 

Please do some reading on what minerals they may contain before using them in an aquarium since it’s possible they can leach heavy metals.  Never use malachite in an aquarium, for instance, since it can leach copper.  There are other stones, semi-precious gemstones, and gemstones that can leach bad chemicals.  If they contain copper or cobalt, they should not be used.  Some contain iron, but I don’t know of any that will leach enough iron to cause problems since iron is a needed trace mineral for plants and fish.

Please do some reading about rocks if you are collecting your own, or ask about any issues you could have when you are buying from a fish store.  ALWAYS double check the information you get with multiple reliable sources.  There is no way that everyone can know everything.