Flagstone?

carsona246

carsona246

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Carson
I've never used many rocks in my tanks before, but i got my hand on a ton of free flagstone. I keep getting mixed reviews on whether this is an acceptable rock to put in a fish tank. I have really soft water, and have crushed coral in my tank already, so if it raised the ph a bit it wouldn't be a large problem I can just take out the crushed coral. Anyone know if this is axie safe? I really hope so cause I have enough to make as many hides as I need.
Also, did the vinegar test and there was no bubbling, which I know is a general way to tell if it's aquarium safe, but I still want to double check to see if anyone else has this in their tank.
 
ooooh Nice score Carson!
Flagstone is a very general term that denotes a large flat stone that is between one and four inches thick; stones of this nature are created by splitting or cutting. The primary types of flagstones are sandstone, limestone, granite, slate or quartzite.

The negative vinegar test rules it out as being limestone and all the others are fine in a tank. Sandstone can be a bit on the crumbly and abrasive side though so if it's sandstone I wouldn't use it in an axie tank.
Have fun, it sounds like you're going to be busy thinking up new axiescapes! Make sure you post LOTS of pics.

If anyone is wondering how to tell the difference...
Sandstone is, well, stuck together sand so if you rub a rough edge you will get sand off it.
Limestone fizzes when vinegar is put onto it and is usually white with a similar texture to sandstone. The limestone will buffer your pH up.
Slate will taste like mud if you lick it and when you drop it it will usually split into/along it's layers. Usually grey but can be green and even brown depending on where it's come from.
Quartzite is very hard, comes in lots of pretty colours that are usually fairly uniform. It's one step away from being marble.
Granite is VERY hard and comes in all sorts of pretty colours like the quartzite but has a more spotty/speckled pattern.

There are flagstones that are made from other rocks so when in doubt hit it with the vinegar and see if it bubbles.

​
 
You could leave it in a bucket for a week, test the water before and after, would this work?
 
Thanks for the info MereB, I googled each type of rock, and I still can't tell which kind it looks more like. I think I'm going to get some distilled water and leave some of the rocks in the distilled water for a week and see what it does to the ph. I was able to chip a piece off a rock when I hit them together, so it may be sandstone, but I'll do the water test and see how it works.
 
ok, I put a nice sized rock in a bucket of tap water, and it's been 2 days now and my ph from my tap has dropped below 6(normal for my water without buffering). I think if the tap water's ph is acting normal with the rock in it the tank should be fine. Anyone think otherwise? I'm actually going on vacation for a month in a week or so and I'm pretty anxious to get this in the tank before I leave.
 
ok, well after scrubbing the hell out of a few rocks I decided I'm going to wait until after vacation anyways. An unbelievable amount of crud came off on just a few rocks, so I figured I'd take the week until vacation to scrub the heck out of all the rocks and soak them for a month or so while I'm gone to make sure the rocks won't mess with my water. It looks like there may be tiny smears of cement on a few rocks, anyone know if this is safe? I can scrape it off with my fingernail if i scrape really really hard, but a dish scrubber doesn't get it off.
 
carsona246 said:
ok, well after scrubbing the hell out of a few rocks I decided I'm going to wait until after vacation anyways. An unbelievable amount of crud came off on just a few rocks, so I figured I'd take the week until vacation to scrub the heck out of all the rocks and soak them for a month or so while I'm gone to make sure the rocks won't mess with my water. It looks like there may be tiny smears of cement on a few rocks, anyone know if this is safe? I can scrape it off with my fingernail if i scrape really really hard, but a dish scrubber doesn't get it off.
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Sounds like a very good idea cleaning, soaking and waiting until you get back to add them to the tank. That way at least IF something messes with your water you will be there to catch it early and get axies OUT of there. and it will give you a better idea of the longer term effect it may have on your water.

I don't think cement/concrete is safe for tanks. There are a lot of things in concrete that aren't good for our skin let alone for soft axie skin.

Could you use a knife or a screwdriver to scrape it off? Save your fingernails ;)
 
I think I heard boiling them is a good idea? Dont know if I've dreamt that or something.. :p be carefull though, sometimes they explode :D
 
ax said:
I think I heard boiling them is a good idea? Dont know if I've dreamt that or something.. :p be carefull though, sometimes they explode :D
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No you haven't dreamed that. I;ve seen people suggest it many times and for wood it's fine BUT..
PLEASE DO NOT BOIL ROCKS!
Boiling is for disinfection purposes but won't do anything for the problems that come from some types of rocks messing with your water (GH, KH and pH) and is actually a very dangerous thing to do with rocks no matter what type they are. The larger grained rocks like the quartzites and granite are particularly bad though and sandstone isn't any better. The larger grain size within the rock allows water to penetrate it more easily which leads to a a rock that is much more likely to crack and explode destroying your kitchen or even worse... YOU
Slate while it is a nice fine grained rock is made from the silt deposits at the bottom of rivers and lakes. It's quite soft and porous and unless it has been kiln dried it WILL still contain water and that stuff shatters like you wouldn't believe.
I took my life into my own hands more times than I care to think about as a kid/teen by putting rocks into boiling water on camp fires or just straight into the fire to see if they would explode. It's a wonder I was never hurt or set fire to the surrounding bush :rolleyes:

If you want to disinfect a rock make sure it is at room temperature (not frozen or too cold), put it in a bucket and pour the boiling water over it. The water won't stay hot enough for long enough to make it explode but it will kill the bugs OR disinfect with alcohol.

Mere.
 
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