Want to add river rocks????

Question

So i have some river rocks that look like these
http://www.unexco.com/rocks.jpg

And i was wondering how do i clean them off so that i could add them to my 20g......Can i use bleach???

Answer 1

You have already received some good answers here, especially from chain_weight.

Different rocks have different porosities; the river rock in your picture is very common here and is not very porous. That said even volcanic rock which we also commonly use in our Aquarium Maintenance business is very porous, however using bleach is perfectly safe and commonly used by most professionals in the industry. A 20/1 water/bleach mixture works fine.
To remove the bleach is also simple, simple add a double dose of any sodium Thiosulfate water conditioner to the rinse water bucket containing the rocks (such as Start Right or Novaqua) and this will INSTANTLY remove your bleach. Sodium Thiosulfate is a chemical reducer that is 100% effective on an oxidizer such as bleach.

Often this can be more effective than boiling as the bleach will penetrate more porous rocks better, although the rocks pictured will not have this problem.

For more about how water conditioners work, please read these articles:
http://aquarium-answers.blogspot.com/2007/04/aquarium-water-conditioners.html

For tap water:
http://aquarium-answers.blogspot.com/2007/01/what-should-i-know-about-tap-water-for.html

These two articles will help you understand why bleaching is perfectly safe.

Hope this helps
:~) C

EDIT:

Bleach is sodium hypochlorite (NaClO), which is a chemical compound of chlorine. While your tap water also contains Chorine (Cl), both are toxic however very unstable and will dissipate if left alone which is why many water districts use chloramines which are much more stable and toxic to fish than bleach/chlorine. Yet we as aquarists still do use tap water with chloramines with proper treatment.
The bottom line is just leaving your rocks or other bleached item out in the sun will remove the bleach/chlorine. Using a de-chlorinator (such as Sodium thiosulfate which is instant) speeds this process.

Bleach is commonly used by the professional aquarium maintenance industry to sterilize rocks and more, especially so as to prevent accidental bacteria introduction. If one carries the "bleach should never be used" point to its logical conclusion, then one should never use tap water, especially when vastly more dangerous chloramines are involved, which of coarse is ludicrous.
People here need to do their homework or at least read the resources I sited. Passing bad information that has no factual basis in science is bad for the aquatics hobby.

EDIT:
Most reducers will have some countering effect on an oxidizer. However the main reducers used by aquarists are Sodium Thiosulfate and complexed hydrosulfite salts
(which are commonly found in products such as Prime). However Trisodium phosphate
does not counter the effects of chlorine bleach. Otherwise you would not have suggestions of mixing Trisodium phosphate (also known as TSP) with bleach for cleaning. If you mixed Sodium Thiosulfate with bleach, the bleach would instantly be rendered useless unlike trisodium phosphate.
Also there are no studies showing Sodium Thiosulfate to have any toxic side effects on fish or other aquatic life.
Please see these sites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trisodium_phosphate
http://www.adityabirlachemicals.com/products/chlorinated_trisodium_pho_tch.htm

Answer 2

bleach is totally fine, it cleans with out leaving a hint of a residue
the only bleach you should use needs to be plain bleach, not the lemon scented -April fresh stuff, as those have detergents which are designed to leave a residue... residual detergent (or soap) kills fish
the smell of bleach it a perfect tell, if you rinse off the bleached decorations and still smell the bleach... you didn't get it all off (water conditioners are the best and fastest way to denature bleach) -since bleach doesn't leave a residue (only mild harmless salts behind) you shouldn't be able to smell it when you're done, think of washing your hands, ya know how you can still smell the soap long after you washed... that little amount is residue from soap, that tiny amount isn't much for people but its like kryptonite for fish
if you don't want to use a water conditioner the sun is the next best option as heat denatures bleach, so does time (bleach evaporates) leave the bleached items in the sun for a day or 2 (depending on the temp, you will have to go longer in the winter) and you're good
the salt left behind is totally harmless, and not noticeable unless you look at the rocks with a microscope, but a final rinse will send those little crystals down the drain

Answer 3

I use bleach also, but dilute it and am very careful with rinsing it correctly. Like mrscrabs I also dry mine in the sun too. I have used advice from Carl S. in the past from answers he has given and I visit his site a lot go get information, so I believe what he says. Bleach is safe if used right. If you can't follow directions, do not use it, it's that easy.

Answer 4

Most should be fine, but be sure of the mineral content as some rocks do give off minerals.
Boil for about 20 minutes in a big pot. Or you could heat in your oven even hotter. This will sterilize them without having you worry about chemical residues.

Answer 5

I dont know what functuay is..... if you mean feng shui.... River rocks are safe. Wash them in HOT water and scrub them off with a clean kitchen brush. Dont use any soaps or anything. There should be no reason that they would increase ph at all.

Answer 6

It's possible you can keep them in your tank.

Its best to bleach them, then rinse them with water and boild to take out excess amount of bleach

Answer 7

I bought river rocks from the local home improvement place, $4 for a 50 lb. bag. I washed them under water very thoroughly, and picked out the round ones. Then, I tested them with drops of vinegar to make sure that they have no limestone. After that, I put them in my goldfish tank. Voila!

Bleach is not recommended in general because it can be deadly to fish. You are more likely to harm your fish by leaving bleach on your rock than by leaving dust on your rock.

Answer 8

Obviously whoever gave Carl S thumbs down did not read the two references he sited. These pretty much explained his points with scientific references.
So sad for some here.

Answer 9

Boiling is much safer than bleach,the only way to be completely sure that there is no bleach residue is to use a strong tri-sodium phosphate solution as a first rinse.(After bleaching) and this creates a whole new set of problems. First scrub the rocks individually then boil them for several hours to remove any living stuff, then let them cool and dry of for several days.

Answer 10

You can either use bleach, in which case you would need to rinse them off very, very, very well, or you can simply boil them in water for 10 minutes, let them cool and add them.