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I went to my grand parents house and they have tons of rivers around. So one day i went hiking and saw like hundreds of rocks are these suitible for aquarium use and possible breeding caves? Also when you test a rock with vinigar to see wether its good for tanks or if it will leech stuff what is the method ive never seen it discribed.

here's a good page on stones and driftwood in your tank. Vinegar isn't really acid enough to determin if the rock will increase the PH in your water.

http://www.aquariumport.com/Using%20Roc ... caping.htm

or

http://www.fishtanksandponds.net/settin ... _decor.htm

Boric acid, Muriatic acid or Hydrochloride acid is much better to use for this. One drop will make the stone fizzle if it's got high contents of limestone or other undesirable PH rising minerals

Were would one get these acids? and im not going to accidentily melt somthing with them am I?

Short of stealing them from a science lab, I don't know where you would get them. If McEve means Hydrochloric acid that can be used to make explosives (given the correct equipment and knowledge) and so is not available to the general public as far as I'm aware. Companies do sell it, but generally only to big firms and schools etc. If you could get an old car battery that contains sulphuric acid in a reasonably strong molarity, although you'd have to wear protective equipment as it would burn your skin. I have no other knowledge on the other two, so you may be able to get those. Just for the record acids technically don't melt anything.

hmm i think ill go with soaking rocks in vinager

Home Depot or any hardware store will have muriatic acid, it's cheap as well.

I gather from reading your posts that you are fairly young. I would NOT use muriatic acid without adult supervision. This is a serious, powerful acid and it can hurt you if it gets on you.

With that said, if you have your parents there and you follow instructions, it is not a big deal to get a small amount of muriatic acid and drip some on the rocks to test them. If they fizz they will raise your pH.

Muriatic acid IS hydrochloric acid in water, so you DO need to be carefull.

You can get muriatic acid at any pool supply plac. I bought mine a Ace hardware in the pool section. I also bought Potassium Permengate at the well water aisle. I use the PP for sterilization and it's a strong medicine.

Potassium Permanganate is a strong oxidising agent, and stored incorrectly or mixed with incompatible substances, can be explosive (and it will stain your skin purple/brown) so be careful with that stuff.

You can get a product in the UK called brick and patio cleaner which is used to remove cement/mortar from new walls/patio surfaces. This is a weak solution of hydrochloric acid.

Tom

Potassium Permanganate is a strong oxidising agent, and stored incorrectly or mixed with incompatible substances, can be explosive (and it will stain your skin purple/brown) so be careful with that stuff.

Much like bleach. But with PP, you can neutralize it with Hydrogen Peroxide (3%) or a dechlorinator (Sodium thiosulfate). The thing I like about PP is that just a few granules is enough for sterilization, since one gram of PP can treat about one hundred gallons. Also that it's easier to rinse off, compared to bleach.

You can get a product in the UK called brick and patio cleaner which is used to remove cement/mortar from new walls/patio surfaces. This is a weak solution of hydrochloric acid.

Muriatic acid is used for the same purpose, so it might be the same.