The Puffer Forum

Not THAT bad of a problem but still.. The rock i posted about a couple weeks ago has started to flake? When fish swim by/on/around it all these little dust looking particles fly off. My filter isnt able to pull them out of the water for some reason and now it looks like my tank is cloudy all the time. What could i do to get this crap off the rock? I thought about a soapless cycle through the dishwasher since i dont have any means of using a water hose where i live.

where was the original thread? A pic of the tank and rock will help also.

You can take it out and get a new scrub brush and a bucket and scrub it drown until no soft stuff is left over.

The cloudiness will settle and you can pick it up with a good targeted siphon.

J-P wrote:where was the original thread? A pic of the tank and rock will help also.

You can take it out and get a new scrub brush and a bucket and scrub it drown until no soft stuff is left over.

The cloudiness will settle and you can pick it up with a good targeted siphon.

even if you scrub off the outside of the rock to remove loose material, it may continue to do this..........
as it's dissolving into the water, you should consider it may contain chemical components that may be unhealthy to the fish

Here's the original post with pics.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=27620

My filter media was a bit clogged so i cleaned it and the water is starting to clear more.
It doesnt seem to have any effect on the fish. Theyre all thriving.

had a similar problem with a few rocks i used in my tank.

Basically i got rid of them and it was fine....

the issue was the rock was reacting with the water and dissolving so even scrubbing it did nothing.

looks like mining slag........
http://www.google.com/search?q=slag&hl= ... 8&bih=1058

I'm w/eieio & jjj5311. When in doubt, remove it.

You could leave it a tray outdoors over the winter and see if it weathers more. If it does do not return it to the tank.

I removed all fish and did a big wc and cleaned the tank. I put the rock in my shower and cleaned it. My shower head is removable and has a pulse option which got soooo much debris and dirt off it. Its back in the tank now. Ill observe it for a week and see if it does anything again. If it does ill remove it. Id take it out now but i have no other decor to put in the tank so it would be extremely bare and boring for my GSP. Hopefully all the stuff coming off was just packed on dirt that got loosened up by the water.

Boring is not good, but toxic is a lot worse.

That's true. My tank is crystal clear now. No problems with the rock yet. Hopefully none at all. I read about coal slag in aquariums. It's packed full of minerals that are all nontoxic, but could all have effects on the tank like increased algae growth or rust colored algae on the glass. All ive had is the rust color on the tank, but that easily comes off with my cleaning pad.

xvCODY wrote:That's true. My tank is crystal clear now. No problems with the rock yet. Hopefully none at all. I read about coal slag in aquariums. It's packed full of minerals that are all nontoxic, but could all have effects on the tank like increased algae growth or rust colored algae on the glass. All ive had is the rust color on the tank, but that easily comes off with my cleaning pad.

how do you know it's coal slag, and without testing it, how do you know there are no toxins?
i wouldn't chance it!
N.I.M.F.T. (not in my fish tank)

RTR wrote:Boring is not good, but toxic is a lot worse.

+2!

Im just assuming, which we all know what that does, that there are no toxins in it. It's been in my tank for about a month now with no problems at all, minus the dirt that came off the past few days. I also assume its slag because of the HUGE amount of coal mining in my part of Kentucky. (Finding a coal mine here would be like finding a fish market in china). Plus It looks strikingly similar to all the pics of "slag" on Google.

yea that is some nasty rock.

I am surprised you didn't put it in a bucket for a week with a power head to see how it would react :/

Well.. it looks like iron deposits on that and as it is reacting poorly with your water +1 to ditch it or QT it until it settles down.

I cleaned/tested/sterilized the rock before i put it in but i guess i shouldve soaked it first like i did my other rocks/driftwood. Ill be on the lookout for new rock and wood for my tank so i can remove this one or maybe i can just get my big tank up and running already!

have you thought of marco rocks? or are you hunting for your own stuff?