You know me. I don't dilute nothing. I like it raw and tangy 🤓. 35% hydrochloric acid. Ok yes it can be used for general purpose aquascaping, but for keeping sensitive plants, that's no bueno. It will keep raising KH. I don't want to fight that battle, it's lost before it even starts.Is that dilute HCL? I might still consider using the rock if it is. It's an amazing shape. Reminds me of this...
Let me take the flame thrower from the storage...HCl will also cause bubbling when reacting with metals. That liberates hydrogen gas rather than carbon dioxide. If you hold a match up to the bubbles, do they explode? (pro tip: appropriate safety precautions wrt exploding HCl)
Could be ignite, ignite apparently grows "sexy plants" 🤔Looks like asphalt.
Pretty much volcanic (basalt) rock. Being wet makes them look pitch black.Looks like asphalt.
OK, volcanic asphalt, perhaps.
Lava is underrated rock imo. Easy for plants to root on, inert (🥇), easy to stack because they grip each other.Pretty much volcanic (basalt) rock. Being wet makes them look pitch black.
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Hopefully I'll be able to make something decent with these rocks. Just need to empty my tank which should happen soon...Lava is underrated rock imo. Easy for plants to root on, inert (🥇), easy to stack because they grip each other.
Also its possible to get ones that are more solid so there are options to chose from in both color and texture.
Not too far from here there is an area with wine/ purple-ish colored lava rock, sometimes I imagine what sort of whacky looking scape one could create with that 😊
Sounds like a dream, I'd be straight in there!Not too far from here there is an area with wine/ purple-ish colored lava rock, sometimes I imagine what sort of whacky looking scape one could create with that 😊
Lignite....softish sedimentary rock...woody/bark like in appearance.....sure does grow moss well, emersed!Could be ignite, ignite apparently grows "sexy plants" 🤔
if you put acid on it it will fizzle like mad. But in the water, it doesn't do anything. It's much too hard and releases the lime in such minimal amounts you won't measure a difference with a weekly water change. Not even after months of no water change.
If it "fizzes like mad" if you put acid on it, it will most certainly release loads of CaCO3 in a CO2 injected tank @zozo - it might be fine in a low energy tank, but as soon as the carbonic acid resulting from CO2 injection gets to it, it will substantially raise both KH and GH. I've used Seiyu stone in a couple of scapes, which is a similar limestone based rock, and despite 50% weekly water changes with pure (non-reminerlised) RO, the KH was always around 6KH, and GH always around GH10 (with MgSO4 addition).
My snails unfortunately suffer a similar fate - in my low tech softwater tanks they are fine, but in CO2 injected tanks with similar parameters, their shells gradually dissolve to nothing.
In theory OK... I still would give it a real test and see...
That acid-fizzling rock doesn't necessarily mean it's no good for aquariums... It's simply an old-school method for a better safe than sorry conclusion if you don't know any better. Take for example Gray Ardennen Grit, Also available with lots of white veins...
Amazon product ASIN B07PT7KZGP
widely used in aquariums across Europa, especially Belgium because you can pick it off the ground over there and it's a hard limestone, if you put acid on it it will fizzle like mad. But in the water, it doesn't do anything. It's much too hard and releases the lime in such minimal amounts you won't measure a difference with a weekly water change. Not even after months of no water change.
A better test than acid is simply to put it in a bucket of water and do some measurements after a week for several weeks and see what it does. Then you will know for sure... Not all types of limestone are a no-go...
It's a very nice rock...
As Wookii mentions. The rock is perfectly fine to work with, as I mentioned in an earlier post, in a scape that is either low tech or even high tech at the only condition that you don't have some sensitive plants, which require low KH. I can't conclusively tell you for a fact if that fizzing is due to the presence of CaCO3 or anything else but I rather not take the risk considering I sell sensitive plants that require low KH and that I inject CO2. There are a few plants that require you to have a KH below 2-3. Anything above and the plants will not grow and eventually melt. This is the case of certain eriocaulon and other species like Centrolepis Drummondiana (blood vomit) which I grow.If it "fizzes like mad" if you put acid on it, it will most certainly release loads of CaCO3 in a CO2 injected tank @zozo - it might be fine in a low energy tank, but as soon as the carbonic acid resulting from CO2 injection gets to it, it will substantially raise both KH and GH. I've used Seiyu stone in a couple of scapes, which is a similar limestone based rock, and despite 50% weekly water changes with pure (non-reminerlised) RO, the KH was always around 6KH, and GH always around GH10 (with MgSO4 addition).
My snails unfortunately suffer a similar fate - in my low tech softwater tanks they are fine, but in CO2 injected tanks with similar parameters, their shells gradually dissolve to nothing.