I am wondering if I go out into my yard or down to the river and pick up a few river slicks about the size of the palm of my hand or a little bigger if they will work in my tank. I want to drill a little hole in them and hot glue plastic/silk plants in the hole. I know I need to sprinkle white vinegar on them to make sure they don't fizzle, but does anyone know how/if they will change my water chemistry? Around here our river slicks are a tan color. Thanks in advance for any help/advice.

I assume that River Slicks are the same thing as River Rock, Right? That's what we call them around here at least..heheh.

As far as I know they will be fine in your tank as long as you do the fizzle test. I have a few really pretty stone's from Lake Superior I was thinking about cleaning up and putting in my tank.

That would be beautiful Michelle. Id do what Della said and test them with vinegar first and just make sure theyre safe.

Boil them at a rolling boil for 10 minutes to make sure you are importing no bacteria/parasites/algae into your tank. Rocks can be porous, so soaking in bleach is not the best of solutions.

I just put vinegar on them and no fizzle, so I rinsed them well and now I am heading out to get a masonry bit.

Thanks for the boiling instructions Daryl, that was my next question.

Anyone ever drilled into one of these things before? OMG!!! I ran two batteries down on the cordless drill and still don't have a hole deep enough to glue a plant into. I need to get out the electric drill this weekend and try again I guess.