Cleaning rocks found outside?

[ahiggin1]

I have been using slate rocks outside as a landscape thing for a while but I think I want to create a hidey something in my tank. How on earth would I clean the rocks that have been outside for a while? Would water and scrubbing the heck out of it work? or would I have to do something more in depth?

[melr70]

I boil mine in a large pan of water for about half an hour :)

[ahiggin1]

:) that must be time consuming! Im weighing out the pros and cons haha

[melr70]

It's a big pan :-)

[tusken raider]

I would suggest pouring boiling water over the rocks and scrubbing them rather than boiling them in a pot/pan. FYI I have read some rocks can explode when boiled

[Kez]

I just used warm water and scrubbed them like crazy and havent had any problems

[TikkiDui]

I have done the same, just cover the rocks in boiling water thrn give them a scrub. I dont think theres much else you could do. Also I think its only some types of rocks that would explode if boiled, maybe rocks with a high water content, I may be wrong though.

[TheAxolotlWhisperer]

Any rocks can contain water inside of them. There isn't any specific kind of rock that can explode. What happens is the water in the rock will boil creating gas inside the rock and the only way to get rid of the gas is for it to explode. I would recommend cleaning the rocks with bleach, then rinse them thoroughly, let them sit until they're dry, rinse them once more, and then right before you add them rinse them with some aquarium water or just have a bucket with your aquarium water and dip each rock before you place it.

[Jennewt]

I boil rocks. But soaking in bleach and then letting them dry completely would certainly also work. Some kind of soak is useful for making it easier to scrub off the dirt.

Actually, I suspect that pouring boiling water over a rock would be more likely to cause it to explode than if it were brought slowly from room temperature up to a boil.

[calpolybobby]

I would suggest against using a slate rock. Slate tends to be easy to break and will begin to weaken and dissolve when submerged for a long time, and when slate does break it can have extremely sharp edges.
One of the best tips I learned for harvesting rocks for tanks is to drop them from waist height...if they break or shatter they are no good, if they don't they will be safe...just clean them well enough! Cheers

[TikkiDui]

Yes your probably right, I have just looked it up and it seems rocks explode if changing the temperature quickly, so pouring boiling water on them is probably not the best idea. Slowly heating them and then letting them cool back down in the water (do not remove and put on a cold surface) seems to be a better idea.