Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => Fishtank Filtration and Cycling => Topic started by: fcmf on April 02, 2015, 04:13:28 PM
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I have low KH (3'd - ish) and low PH (varying around 6.0-6.8 ). I've just got some Tufa rock from a nearby aquatic shop where I bought some years ago. Apart from giving it a good scrub before I put it in the tank, is there anything else I ought to be doing? [Eg I only found out recently from other posts that I ought to have / could have boiled the wood that I put in the tank months ago, so if there's anything I else I should/could be doing with this rock, do let me know.] Thanks.
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As long as you scrub it well enough to get rid of anything that could have attached itself to the surface in those years, it should be fine to go in.
All I do with wood is pour hot water over it then soak it till it sinks. The last piece took 3 weeks.
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Thanks, Sue. [ I actually bought some of this rock years ago but it has been in the tank since - apart from a few months between goldfish-keeping and tropical fishkeeping when I was fishless :'( This new rock seems to have been bought into the aquatic shop recently but I'll give it a good scrub. I'm assuming that the rock I bought before is the same as this, as it was bought for that purpose - but it seems to be completely hard whereas this new rock is soft and crumbly.]. I've been having a read around on the www for the past hour - some comments say that this shouldn't be used in soft water aquariums. I have x-ray tetras and pygmy cories. Hopefully they will be ok, even if I put a small piece in?
On a separate note, I had been wanting to clean my other, big 'cave'-like rock as it was getting a bit dirty. I'd noticed on another forum that people use Milton and a toothbrush, so decided to try that. I then had another hunt around on the www and found other posts that it could be toxic to aquatic life but others say that, if it's rinsed thoroughly and with dechlorinator too, it should be ok. Any thoughts on this? I'm a bit nervous about putting it back in now!
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Milton, or other cheaper baby bottle sterilising solution, is just bleach, which is a source of chlorine. All you need to do is rinse very well. If you let it stand overnight in a bucket of water, the chlorine will probably gas off but rinsing with water overdosed with dechlorinator will make sure.
However, this is not a good idea with things like wood where the chlorine can penetrate deep inside the fabirc of the object.
Even cheaper than baby bottle sterliser is supermarket basic range bleach, the thin stuff that costs a few pence a bottle. This is usually just hypochlorite with no detergent or perfume added unlike the more expensive bleaches. Again just rinse very well then with water OD'd with dechlorinator.
I have used dechlorinator to save a carpet when I accidentally dribbled bleach on it while cleaning the loo. I just poured the dechlorinator neat onto the drips then pressed everything out with an old towel. If it works doing this, it'll remove bleach from some tank decor.
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Thanks, Sue - that's reassuring. I've now rinsed it well, and it's in a bucket of water with dechlorinator, to stand overnight.
[I'll also bear in mind your illustrative use of dechlorinator, should I ever need that - useful household tip.]
As for the Tufa, it seems to have gone hard now. I had broken off a small section which was soft and crumbly, but which has now hardened, and I reckon that such a small amount can't do any harm. I can always put the bigger chunk in if it's making no difference to the KH and PH levels, and remove if these readings go too high.
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Tufa is a form of limestone. As such, it can dissolve into the water, especially if your pH is low. This will cause your hardness and pH to increase. Keep an eye on these as you suggested.
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Thanks, SteveS - and Sue - for the helpful advice and reassurances.