Are these rocks safe now?

[BettaMiah]

So I got some rocks from my Backyard for my Goldfish tank. They are large river rocks. I boiled them, and then dumped a few in White Vinegar to see if they were safe, and they did not bubble.

So is it safe to add them to my aquarium?

[Kytkattin]

Gah! Never boil rocks. They can have air pockets in them that literally explode and have killed people in the past! It is much safer to bleach them, for future ref.

Vinegar doesn't always mean they are safe. You need to keep them in a bucket of water for a couple of weeks (one week minimum), along with another bucket (for your control), and do PH tests to see if they do anything to the water. :)

[BettaMiah]

We didn't boil them over an open flame. Just in water that had started to boil...

I told my mom.

A week? I was hoping to get them in tonight..

[Kytkattin]

It just isn't worth that risk, IMO. Why risk severe bodily harm/permanent scarring, or death for a fish tank?

Unless you know exactly what types of rocks you have, you really should make sure they won't affect your PH. It is safest for your fish.

[jman828]

+1

[BettaMiah]

*sigh*

Okay. Will do, Boss. Lol.

[copperarabian]

I put mine through the dishwasher on the sanitation cycle along with a huge piece of driftwood

[BettaMiah]

Is that safe?

And I thought the Vinegar test was to see if it would screw up water chemistry..

[Kytkattin]

You know you don't have to do what we recommend. They are just that, recommendations. :)

Think of the vinegar test as the first step. It will eliminate the worst offenders, but it won't tell you everything about the rocks. They might still do something to the water. Probably not, but better safe than sorry. :D

[copperarabian]

oh, I forgot to add I put them through the dishwasher with NO soap O.O That was very bad of me to leave that out....

The sanitation is pretty hot and worked fine with my rocks(metamorphic rock I found while hiking)