Pardon me if this is in the wrong section-

I'm looking to start working on my 37gal soon, Hubby just has to finish up my stand at work.

I live a block away from a big lake (Lake Winnebago) And there are some really geourgous rocks down there in the summer. I would love to put some in my tank. However-The lake isn't exactly the cleanest lake around, We live in a Paper Mill Industry up here, So a lot of sludge etc. gets dumped into the lake.

*IF* I could go ahead with this, What would be a good way of "Cleaning" the rocks before placing them in a tank. Any regiment's that work well?

Thanks All.

If it was me, then depending on the size of the rock, i would either boil it for an hour. to kill off the bacteria on it.

Other than that, i wouldnt use it at all

Boiling the rocks is really the most efficient way of killing all biological things that may be in them. Heat will reach all the nooks and crannies and openings that chemicals such as bleach or PP may not. In using heat, you also do not have to worry about pockets of chemicals that are not properly rinsed out!

A hour of boiling is a probably overkill - a good rolling boil withsalt for at least 10 minutes is most likely sufficiant. If you are particularly worried, or if a very large amount of waste comes from the rocks, you can empty out the boil bucket and refill it and boil again.

When done, rinse the rocks really well

Here is a nice little post that tells you how to tell if the rocks are the appropriate type for the fish tank:

http://www.kokosgoldfish.invisionzone.com/...?showtopic=8441

Thank You

I'll have to wait until the weather starts behaving better to go rock picking but just wanted to know if it was worth me digging through them in the first place.

I noticed quite a few last summer near the docks that were smooth in texutre, They just looked like they'd go well in a tank.

Boiling it is.

It they really have that much nasty stuff on them, it might be wise for you to wear water proof gloves to protect your health, also.

Just a thought.......

Good Point Carol! I see people water skiing in the summer-But I have never personally been "in" the lake. I'll have to keep that in mind.

Thanks.