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Post by nene on Aug 12, 2003 11:33:52 GMT -5
I read a suggestion to keep a small piece of lava rock (the kind used for landscaping and available at most hardware stores) in all of your tanks. Because these rocks are very porus they supposedly are a good living place for live bacteria. This way you could vacumn your gravel and be assured that the bacteria would still be present, living in the lava rock and would quickly repropagate any that was vacumned up. It made sense to me. Am I missing something or is this a viable option? Thanks for your input.  |
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Rhyn
Junior Bubble Nester
Posts: 165
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Post by Rhyn on Aug 12, 2003 12:42:22 GMT -5
I don't know about the bacteria side of things, but personally I'd be worried about the fish getting hurt. Lava rock, also known as pumice, is sold as something to use for removing callouses (i.e. huge layers of skin). This doesn't strike me as being particularly comfortable for a delicate little fish... But I could be completely wrong, here.
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Post by nene on Aug 12, 2003 13:33:47 GMT -5
The stones are small. About the size of of a plum. I took some out of my garden, boiled them to sterilize and put them in 2 of my tanks with the bettas. They completely ignore them and the rocks are in a back corner. I also put river rocks in with the bettas for decoration and one of my males will slide sideways across the smooth stones like it feels wonderful but again, he ignores the lava rock so maybe they are smart enough to tell the difference. |
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Post by Betta MVP on Aug 12, 2003 15:29:25 GMT -5
I would be careful using the lava rock, it may leech things into the water that you don't want in there. I would also check and see if it alters the ph. Regular aquarium gravel is a great place for your good bacteria to colonize and I've never had a problem losing too much bacteria even when thoroughly vacuuming the gravel.
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